


Khaos Wars

by Astragami_sama



Category: Khaos Wars, Mahou Shoujo - Fandom, Mahou Shoujo: Khaos Wars, Original Work
Genre: Action, F/M, Fantasy, Magic, Magical Girls, Mahou Shoujo, Original Character(s), Psychological Drama, Romance, School, Shoujo, Shounen, Two worlds, War, Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:49:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astragami_sama/pseuds/Astragami_sama
Summary: 16 years ago, the people of planet Cronos fought a terrible war against a merciless foe; the cronians survived, but their home was left in ruins. To this day the consecuenses of the war are still tormenting the peopleof Cronos. And if nothing changes they will all perish.Meanwhile, 16 year old Aika from planet Earth is desperatly trying to cling to her normal life. Nothing has been the same since the day she woke up with a strange bracelet on her arm. The bracelet gave her the ability to transform into a magical girl. Luckily there are four other girls just like her, and together they have to fight mysterious monstersthat have been showing up from nowhere.In a twist of fate Aika meets and falls in love with a boy, Kazu from Cronos, who seems to have a special connection with themonsters. Soon she realizes that the monsters aren't the only threat to humanity.





	1. A fool's mistake

**Author's Note:**

> My first work ever, hope you enjoy^^  
> It will be pretty long, about 30 chapters.  
> They won't be too long though, so I hope that helps :p

The clock rang and signaled for the students at Miyazaki High School that lunch break had started. It only took a few seconds for the halls to be flooded by busy teenagers heading to the cafeteria. Chattering, giggling and eager, loud footsteps on wooden floor could be heard resonating through the building. Most classrooms were almost empty, but students who brought lunch from home stayed behind to eat it there. The faint sound of raindrops delicately and rapidly hammering on the windows surrounded them, making a pleasant sound.

 

Koizumi Aika sat at her desk on the first row of class 2-A, her hand supporting her heavy head and her feet dangling back and forth a centimeter above the floor. Her fingers felt cold against her cheek; have they still not fixed the heater? Thick, waist long, ash green hair gently fell around her like a waterfall. She had tied up a small part of it on her left side so that it wouldn’t get it the way. Her bottle green eyes were barely open, emphasizing her bored expression. Until now she had been staring out into oblivion, but then decided to eventually shift her gaze at the papers that had been laying untouched in front of her for the past hour; pencils and erasers scattered around them. Like usual. Aika brushed away some residue from some of the erasers that had been covering the title of a page: “Essay: Japanese 14.11” it said. She straightened up a bit and picked up one of the pencils, ready to write something. It was about time she pulled herself together. Her grades had been suffering because of her recently slacking off.

But no matter how hard she tried to focus her mind felt empty. It felt as if her thoughts laid scattered around in her head and she couldn’t gather them. She sat there like paralyzed, with the pencil in her hand, for a solid minute until her stomach reminded her with a light growl that lunchtime would be over soon. The abrupt sound had taken her back to reality and she realized how hungry she had become. She reached for her bag and grabbed her grey, metal lunchbox. Inside lied a single sandwich with some cheese and ham on it. Her lunch was always that: a regular, boring sandwich.

 

Aika took her first bite. The hard and crusty bread instantly dried up her mouth. The cheese and ham themselves tasted pretty good, or at least good enough. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable, but it made the hunger go away so it served its purpose.

All of a sudden she heard a loud noise coming from the back of the classroom. She turned around to get a look even though she already had her suspicions. Only _one_ person would make such a big scene of getting up from their seat.

 

Moriyama Emiko strode across the room with her back straightened and her head held up high. Her carnation pink hair was put up in two poofy, perfect pigtails that lightly bounced with each step. As she walked by the air around her filled up with a delicate flowery aroma. Everyone followed her with their gaze as if in a trance when she passed them by. Aika shifted her focus back to the paper and took a big munch of her sandwich. She had seen this scene with Emiko a million times before and every time it annoyed her more than the last. Just as meaningless each time.

 

“Hey” a sweet and friendly female voice broke the silence. The voice’s owner walked a few more steps and positioned herself in front of Aika’s desk. At that moment the strong scent of roses hit her, and with that she knew it couldn’t be anyone other than Moriyama Emiko. Aika couldn’t be bothered with people right now, much less _her_ , so she stared at her in silence for a second, expecting her to turn around to a friend. But Emiko didn’t budge and send a warm smile in Aika’s direction. Her big, pink eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“You need anything, class pres.?” Aika found it really odd that Moriyama Emiko; the queen of the school herself would approach a nobody like her. The two of them were like two different species.

“So, I was heading to the cafeteria and I wondered if you would like to come with me? I could use some company”. Emiko started twirling some of the hair from one of her pigtails around. How strange, Aika thought. She rarely did that, in fact, Aika could only recall having seen her do that once: when she wanted the teacher to delay an upcoming math test with a week. Such an odd observation, but for some reason it had stuck with her. Probably because it actually worked: that girl always got everything she wanted.

 

Aika questioned if her hearing had gone bad. No way had Emiko just invited her to hang out. The room burst out in gossipy whispering. “Why would Moriyama-san ask _her?_ ” “Koizumi is so boring” “I’m way more fun to be with!” Aika ignored them and answered her with confusion “Why me?”

“I simply wanted to get to know you better”. Aika noticed Emiko peeked at her sandwich with a hint of pity.

“My treat”. She didn’t know whether to feel flattered or offended. Either way she didn’t want the attention that came with being Emiko’s friend, and Emiko really wasn’t her type. Aika quickly glanced over at the onlookers. They still closely observed their every move. A small, disheartened sigh escaped her lips and she returned to her tired, disinterested position. Her head once again rested against the palm of her hand, but this time her eyes wandered around the room.

“Hmmm, I’m not sure. But it sure sounds like there are more than enough people who would gladly take you up on your offer”. She purposely said the last part a bit louder to make sure the crowd could hear her clearly. The passive aggressiveness in her voice was evident. One by one everybody started flocking around Emiko. Ridiculous, just like flies swarming around a light. Aika packed her bag and left.

 

***

 

The clock turned 8:20 in the morning. Aika ambled along the sidewalk with her earpods in while listening to music, humbling along comfortably while enjoying the fresh morning air.  
  
She passed the big iron gate in front of the schoolyard, successfully avoiding all the puddles on the ground left by yesterday’s rain.

 

“Koizumi-san!” Did someone call her name? She pulled out one of her earpods and turned around. Emiko stood behind her, just as lively as last time. The unexpected encounter took her by surprise, she startled and accidently stepped right into a water puddle.

“What a coincidence. Do you always come to school this early?” Emiko rested most of her weight on her left leg, looking at Aika with the most innocent smile she had ever seen.

“I do… but aren’t you normally inside by now?” Aika glanced down at her iPod to check the clock. After having confirmed the hour, her eyes moved back up to Emiko, who once again did the hair-twirling thing. Aika then noticed a familiar bracelet on Emiko’s right arm. Pink, with a white translucent crystal button in the middle.

She instantly felt her heart sink, uneasiness in her stomach and her eyes lost their light. So _that_ is why Emiko so eagerly tried to get close to her. It all made sense now. She had to get away from Emiko as fast as possible; she wanted no part in her plans. Again, Aika got absorbed into her own world and worries. Through her blurred vision she could see that Emiko’s lips were moving, but couldn’t nor wanted to hear what she had to say. Even the music from her iPod turned muffled in her mind.

 

Out of the blue a warm, rough hand tapped her shoulder.

“Koizumi-san, class has already started. I have to give you detention again”. The teacher was standing in front of her, giving her a stern stare. It had taken her a moment to realize that everyone had gone inside, including Emiko. For some reason her left foot felt freezing cold. This whole time she didn’t step out of the puddle and her entire shoe and sock were drenched in water.

 

***

 

The hallway appeared empty as Aika left detention. Of course, why would anyone stay here this late? Honestly, it scared her a little bit: the way everything felt so hollow and abandoned. Like everyone forgot this place existed once they went home and everything left was an ever-crawling emptiness. This was something she never got used to; and it only got worse each time.

 

It all got to her and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. With rapid steps she hurried over to her locker. Putting away the books she didn’t need, she slammed the locker shut, turned the key and pulled it out of the keyhole.

 

Muted echo from footsteps further down the hallway resonated behind her. Apparently someone else still roamed around on this floor, how unusual. But the sound got eerier as it drew nearer. Maybe she started to get paranoid, but it almost sounded like they were coming closer and closer to her. Aika resisted the urge to turn around and check, probably just someone late for the train… or something. She took a deep breath and continued with heavier steps, slightly trembling this time. Her pulse grew faster. She could swear she sensed a faint smell, which seemed to become stronger by the second. Aika started to walk faster, but she couldn’t shake the smell off, it was following her.

 

The delicate smell of roses surrounded her.

 

“KOIZUMI-SAN!” Aika let out an involuntary gasp of surprise. Things had already taken a turn for the worse. Resistantly, she turned around. Emiko’s bright and peppy demeanor had completely vanished; her usually sparkling eyes now radiated pure anger. Aika stepped back with one foot, but couldn’t move any further. She tried to say something to Emiko, but the words got mixed up and she stumbled around them. Emiko grabbed Aika’s arm and forcefully tried to drag her away.

“You’re coming with me!”

“That hurts, let go of me!” Aika yelled and tried to pull away from Emiko’s tight grip. It felt like a thousand needles simultaneously poked her skin. Emiko quickly pulled down Aika’s sleeve to reveal a green bracelet, identical to her own pink one. Aika’s whole body started shaking uncontrollably. She gathered up all of her strength and managed to escape Emiko’s grasp. A striking pulsation in her arm suppressed her upcoming scream. She put her other hand on the hurting area to ease the pain.

“The whole human race is at stake here! Don’t you care if we all get annihilated! IS THIS A GAME TO YOU!” Emiko’s voice got louder with every sentence. Her rage had turned into fury and it showed in her every aspect. She came across as so angry that trying to reason with her seemed pointless. Aika didn’t know what else to do so she set off running. She knew it was cowardly, but what other choice did she have? How far was Emiko willing to go?

“YOU FOOL! YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS!” A loud bang from the lockers chased Aika down the hallway. She didn’t dare turn around.

 

The flawless Moriyama Emiko that everyone adored and admired terrified her.


	2. "King and Queen"

Emiko stood there as she watched Aika run away. Emiko had to get hold of herself. Her reputation was at stake. She quickly shook it off and regained her composure as if nothing had happened. A brief glance at her phone told her she had to hurry. Oh no. Even if she ran all the way to work, she would still be late. That Koizumi Aika, how _dared_ she ruin Emiko’s perfect attendance?

 

Emiko ran down the steep hill as fast as she could. Gravity pulled her downhill, causing her speed to accelerate with each step. Concentrating upon it only got her confused, and before she knew it her feet had tangled themselves up and she was lying on the ground. She felt a striking pain in her right knee; she lifted herself up and reflexively placed one hand on the hurting area. Moving her hand away revealed an ugly scratch; blood had already started dripping down her leg. Ugh, she had no time for this! She straightened herself up and went on, despite the pain.

 

To get to her destination she had to cross a small park further down the road. Emiko limped over to one of the benches surrounding a big, elegant fountain in the middle of the park. She placed her schoolbag beside her and took out a band-aid. Always prepared. She glanced at everyone around her; hopefully no one gave her any weird looks. Everyone were focused on their own business it seemed; talking on the phone or listening to music. Good. She ripped open the band-aid and gently placed it on her wound.

 

Emiko exited the park and continued on to another street. This time she didn’t run, instead she scurried along. What if she tripped again and wasted more time? Or if someone from school saw her?

 

The wide and neatly paved street had shops, cafes, and restaurants placed on each side of the sidewalk. Lots of well-dressed people strutted back and forth and in and out of the eating-places, probably office workers on their lunch break. Emiko’s mood brightened when she spotted her usual manhole cover. She slightly picked up her pace, jumped, and landed perfectly on top of it. Her right knee stung a little, but this kind of insignificant injury didn’t bother her anymore. Every time she went to work she had to step on this exact manhole cover, almost like a checkpoint of some sort.This was just one of those silly things humans do for no good reason. 

Right as her feet touched the ground a few raindrops tapped her face. She stared up at the sky and noticed dark clouds starting to form. She sat off jogging, hoping the rain wouldn’t catch up to her. Luckily, she had almost reached her destination.

 

Emiko entered a building at the very end of the street: a big, two-story, light brown restaurant. Above the entrance there was a sign with elegant letters reading «King and Queen».

 

The whole room emitted a delightful smell of delicious food. It actually made Emiko rather hungry because she hadn’t eaten anything for a while. Today appeared quieter than expected. People’s conversation and the clattering of silverware against the plates were more evident than the usual noise they turned into. Emiko continues to the back where she opened a door labeled “staff only”.

 

“Good afternoon everyone!” Emiko says a bit tired as she puts away her bag. Employees rushed back and forth between the kitchen and dining area. Their uniform consisted of a basic black shirt and pants with a brown apron tied around the waist. Every employee had a different color on the ribbon tying the apron. Among them she spotted a guy with slightly tanned skin and medium long dark hair, which beautifully framed his gorgeous face. No matter how plain the uniform, he made it look exceptionally fantastic. In his hands he carried a stack of dirty plates and silverware. Emiko’s heart skipped a bit when he stopped and looked at her with his stunning, brown eyes…

 

“Yo, Emiko. Early as always, I see”. Tsubasa was just as goofy as he was handsome, Emiko had already gotten used to his teasing. She didn’t mind though, if anything it made her feel like he saw her as a close friend.

“Haha, funny as always Tsubasa. Do I have to remind you of that time you showed up when your shift had already ended?” At this restaurant she really allowed herself to let her guard down. At first working here felt like a chore, but with time she had come to enjoy it. It had become her second home and the people here felt like family.

 

Tsubasa let out an exaggerated dramatic sigh.

“You will never let me live that down, will you?” A small giggle escaped his lips, followed by a somewhat louder ahem.

“I’d love to chitchat some more, but I need to put these away”. He lightly swayed the pile of dirty dishes to specify what he meant. But before he reached the kitchen Emiko heard tramping from the floor above. She froze in place and so did Tsubasa, he must have heard it too. Someone would come down the stairs any moment… It couldn’t be anyone other than…

 

An exhausted looking guy showed up at the top of the staircase. It appeared that he had just gotten out of bed. He heavily wobbled down a few steps and over to the railing where he supported his weight. His ripped jeans, cashmere dark beige sweater and navy jersey blazer combined with a black choker gave him a tough yet laid-back image.

“Ryuu, you’re here today. What happened, did your daddy force you to finally take some responsibility?” Emiko stared at Tsubasa bewilderment. Did that just come out of his mouth?

She could feel the growing tension in the air.

A sense of unease filled the empty space between them.

“Tsubasa,” Ryuuzaki harshly glared at him.

The room grew heated.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense!” He yelled.

“I came to speak with Emiko”.

 

He finally came down the stairs. Tsubasa slightly backed away, Ryuuzaki’s behavior must have had him a bit shook up. To be honest, it quite shocked Emiko as well. He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back up with him. She could swear she heard Tsubasa mumbling to himself:  
“Lately it feels like I don’t even know you…”

 

Emiko clumsily stumbled after Ryuuzaki up the wooden staircase. He let go of her arm when they reached the top. He always dragged her up here when he had important things to discuss. He went through the hall and entered the living room, but she hesitated a bit and stayed behind. What would he think of her when she told him that she failed to recruit Aika? A few drops of sweat fell down Emiko’s forehead and she quickly wiped them away. She took a deep breath and followed him.

 

A warm tone of beige created an inviting atmosphere in the nice and spacious room. It appeared smaller than it’s actual size due to the plenty of big furniture. Clearly his family was quite wealthy. It really impressed Emiko that Ryuuzaki’s single father managed to accomplish such success and raise a child at the same time. Even as the owner he helped out in the kitchen downstairs. It must be really nice to have a chef cooking for you every day. She couldn’t help but slightly envy him on that front.

 

A beautiful embroidered lace tablecloth rested on a round table in the middle of the room. On top of it stood an orange vase filled with all kinds of flowers, Emiko couldn’t even name them all. Beside the vase laid a fancy teapot and cups. No way Ryuuzaki had been the mastermind behind the furnishing. From what she knew about him, he was the messy, chaotic type. All this elegance stood as a big contrast to his careless nature. Honestly, it looked kind of charming… in a weird, Ryuuzaki kind of way.

 

Ryuuzaki sat down at one of the two coffee brown sofas on each side of the table. Emiko braced herself for the inevitable. She despised being confronted and anxiously watched him as he picked up a cup and reached for the teapot.

 

“Tea?” He offered her. As of lately he always sounded exhausted. Emiko politely declined.

“Whatever”. As he slowly pours himself some tea, she couldn’t help but notice the bags under his eyes and the roots growing out from under his bleached blonde hair. Poor guy probably pulled an all-nighter again. As a close friend, Emiko knew he cared about his appearance; he usually dyed his roots the moment they showed up. He disliked his real dark brown hair color and wanted everyone to think he was a natural blonde. Even though those damaged ends didn’t exactly work in his favor.

 

“How is it going?” He shifted his gaze back to her. Emiko sat down at the sofa across from him, trying her hardest not to show any signs of restlessness. Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest at any moment. She resisted the urge to bite her nails and forced herself to stay calm and focused.

“Good I guess. Just a little wet from the sudden rain.” Ryuuzaki narrowed his eyes and his brows formed a little frown.

”I meant with Koizumi Aika. It has been a week”. His voice matched his facial expression. Emiko kept silent. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him anymore. The silence slowly started turning into torture.

 

Ryuuzaki casually sat there sipping his tea… What a cruel form of punishment.

“I tried everything, she just doesn’t want to listen to me”. The stress Emiko had been holding in for so long finally surfaced.

“She _knows_ why I want to talk to her, but she still ran away from me! I don’t get it; does she not care at all? What selfishness! Who in their right mind would choose someone like her to protect humanity?” Her voice got lighter as she got more worked up. She abruptly stopped talking when she noticed. How embarrassing, letting herself sound so desperate. She glanced back at Ryuuzaki, who only now finished his tea.

“Please, calm down. Don’t let it get to you, she is just stubborn. This affected _her_ life as much as it did yours. For now just focus on your work, and do something about that wound…” Emiko looked at him in surprise as he stood up from the sofa.

“Eventually she will realize she has no choice”.


	3. Parasites

Dark clouds gathered in the sky. A gruesome, sharp shrieking almost threw Aika off balance. The gigantic, horrifying creature in front of her had instantly scared away every living being around them. People were running and screaming all round her. Someone accidently pushed her to the ground, but kept running. She waited for the masses to disappear; she had to keep her identity a secret.   
  
Someone must have called the police. Six police cars had already surrounded the monster. People were running out from them and shooting and it, but the bullets had no effect on its hard skin. The monster lifted its heavy tail and slammed it on top of one of the cars. The rest of the policemen in cars tried to escape, but the monster swept them away, wrecking their cars.   
  
The policemen on foot tried running away; one of them got grabbed by the monsters paw and brought to its mouth. The poor man begged for his life, but to no avail. Aika tried turning away, but couldn’t, she was frozen by the morbid sight that followed. The monster bit his head off and threw his lifeless body at his coworkers.  
  
Aika couldn’t waste more time, people were dying right in front of her. She pressed the crystal button on her green bracelet.  
“Crystal Emerald! Transform!”   
  
A green light emitted from her bracelet, which slowly disappeared into thin air. It felt like her body was wrapped in the warm, safe embrace of the light.   
  
Her hair changed its color to fern green and a light green ribbon tied around the part she usually has tied up. Her clothes changed to an off shoulder, short sleeve, minidress.  
  
The transparent crystal from her bracelet became a part of her dress, placed on her chest.  
Her shoes become light green with ribbons up her leg, one ribbon shorter than the other, and ring-gloves appeared on her arms. All her senses had become enhanced and her whole body felt light as a feather.  
A long, green staff with an emerald on top materialized in her hand. She swung it once and pointed it at the muddy brown monster standing in front of her, boldly staring at it.  
  
The creature wiggled its long, alligator-like tail: most likely getting ready to attack. Aika took a few steps back and prepared to defend herself, expecting it to smash her from above. She didn’t want to meet the same fate as the policemen. But to her surprise the beast swung its tail horizontally towards her.  
No way could she out-run it, her only choice was to leap on top. Her heart pounded faster and faster as the tail came nearer to her. She only had one chance.  
The air was shaken up around them.  
  
Aika waited for the perfect moment to jump.  
Now. Her feet came in contact with its harsh, rugged skin. There was no to time to think, she had to act on her instincts. She sprinted up the greasy being.  
No foothold. Too slippery to climb.   
An unexpected jerk sent her flying off. A concrete building closed in on her.  
She reflexively curled up to a ball, turned around and kicked away from the wall. The recoil shot her at a high speed right in the direction of the monster’s head. An opportunity.  
The eyes must be its weak spot.  
When she got close enough; the staff emitted a green light and shot three big, green orbs at its left eye.   
  
Its disgusting face twisted in pain and it let out another one of those horrific cries. Aika fell back on the ground and covered her ears. The horrid sound made her want to rip her own ears off.  
She forced herself to get back up on her feet. But before she managed to, a huge, coarse claw folded around her and picked her up from the grassy terrain. The creature’s tight grip made it hard for her to breathe.  
  
It brought Aika closer to its hideous face; she could smell its rotten breath. Drool dripped down from the corner of its mouth; one big, slimy chunk fell right on her. She instantly felt sick in her stomach and wanted to puke.  
That was when she noticed the round cat-like eyes glaring at her like a lion hunting down its prey. She could throw up later; right now she had to get away from this monster before it devoured her alive.  
  
She had to do something. Quick. The second it loosened it’s grip, getting ready to consume her, she aggressively attacked.  
“Eat this!”  
A big green orb burst in its mouth.  
The best furiously hurled Aika away and she heavily crashed into something hard.  
  
***  
  
She must have lost consciousness for a few seconds, since she couldn’t recall them. Ouch, her back felt like it was on fire. Her eyelids weighted a ton, but she slowly managed to open them. The sight before her made her tremble in fear. The creature closed in on her. If she had been out cold for a little bit longer, she already would have been turned into monster-snacks.  
  
She wanted to cry for help, but no one would hear her. Everyone had already escaped, and even if they hadn’t; no one would be able to kill the monster. Every cell in her body screamed for her to get out of there.  
  
Aika struggled to stand up. She had to get her staff. Wait. Where did it go? Her entire being filled up with horror the moment she spotted her weapon behind the approaching, barbarous beast. She had never felt so helpless in a battle before.  
Her best option was to run between its legs.  
  
Each step ached more than the last. She could feel the blood streaming down her back. Wind blew dust in her open wounds. The ever-growing pain started to get unbearable.  
  
Aika collapsed right in front of the bloodthirsty beast. Another scream. Inexplicably, this one sounded triumphant.  
  
“YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS!”  
  
Emiko’s words resonated in her mind. Ugh, what an annoying voice. She couldn’t give Emiko the satisfaction of being right. She couldn’t give up here.  
  
Aika gathered the last of her strength and slid underneath the monster, barely avoiding getting snatched again. The action made a rift in her dress, but it didn’t matter. She had to get her staff back; without it she was defenseless.  
  
Aika felt a glimpse of hope when she got closer to her staff. Just a little more…  
The hope shattered before her eyes as the tail swept it further aside.  
At this point the creature had to be toying with her.  
She had no other choice than to bite the bullet and continue forward.  
  
The monster tripped her with its tail when she only had a few steps left. She stretched out an arm towards her staff, barely managing to grab it the moment she got snatched. She didn’t have the strength to do anything other than play dead. Hopefully her performance would be believable.  
  
Aika closed her eyes and waited to sense that rotten breath. She would strike when the time was right.  
  
The revolting smell got stronger ad stronger. But it was still too early. Her sense of smell had increased after all, especially with her eyes being shut.  
  
For the first time, Aika could hear the beast breathing heavily. She had to be near. It was now or never.  
She quickly turned around, pointed at its right eye and fired a last attack.  
“DIE!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.  
The monster roared in agony and fell to the ground, pulling Aika down with it.  
  
Once back on the ground, she crawled away from the presumably dead creature. She looked at it and saw that it had already started to dissolve into thin air. She could finally let her guard down.  
  
Aika distanced herself as far as she could and pressed the crystal on her chest. She couldn’t risk being spotted by anyone, not in this state. Who knows what would happen if anyone found out about her. There were some pretty crazy people out there; anyone would want to keep this a secret if they were in her position.  
  
A green light emitted from it and she turned back to her old self.  
A sudden jolt shot through her like lightning and she let out a pained scream. All the support the transform gave her until now disappeared with it; and all the wounds she had received, now hurt twice as much.  
She couldn’t hold it in anymore. The sickness forced her to throw up.  
  
The bone crushing pain was still there, but she felt a little bit better now. Everything she wished for right now was to fall asleep in her comfortable bed and forget this ever happened.  
  
All of a sudden someone grabbed her by the hair and pulled it backwards, while placing their arm around her throat.  
“If you scream I’ll kill you”  
Aika didn’t recognize the deep male voice.  
“You only have yourselves to blame,”  
“you parasites”.  
Everything went black.


	4. Kazu

Aika started to regain her consciousness. A cold gust of wind blew through her hair. Someone carried her over their shoulder. They had tied up her hands and feet.   
Who?   
Why?   
She could hear their slow, large steps and heavy breathing as they walked. The sharp yet delicate sound of leaves rustling around them made Aika more aware by the second. If it weren’t for these sounds she was sure she would lose her grip on reality. She carefully lifted her head and looked around. It must have become pretty late. The dreary darkness that surrounded them made her feel even more lost than before, and for a moment she wished she had never woken up.  
  
That was when the terrible pain from her injuries struck her as lightning. Oh right, how could she forget that diabolical monster? Her head pounded heavily and her whole body ached. She tried to lay as still as she possibly could, though all she wanted to do was to scream. She felt at her bound hands and feet. The rope tightened solidly around her wrists. She could still feel the bracelet underneath; so he hadn't been able to remove it. Assuming he tried. For once she was relieved that it was impossible to remove, apparently no one else could take it off of her either. Nothing she had tried this far worked, it was indestructible. Usually she would do everything in her power to escape, but this time she didn't dare. She was already beaten down and she didn't know what this man was capable of.   
  
Aika looked around and tried to get an idea of where she was. Trees. Hundreds of trees surrounded them, accompanied by the sharp smell of resin. The full moon loomed above them, illuminating parts of the dense forest. This was actually a beautiful and peaceful night. Too bad she couldn't enjoy it.   
  
The stranger suddenly came to a halt. Did he notice she had woken up? Her heart skipped a beat and she held her breath. What followed next was a creaking sound.  
  
Dust shot up from the ground when the huge, bulky door opened. The particles tickled her nose and tried to expose her with a sneeze, but she managed to keep it in. The only source of light was a few candles lighting up small areas here and there. The soft glow revealed cobwebs in the corners and a few bugs running frantically around. A huge, old chandelier hanged from the ceiling in the middle of the room. She imagined how once it must have been the pride of who-ever owned this place. But now it appeared to be nothing more than a home to lots of spiders. She guessed that meant there was no electricity in this abandoned place.   
  
The stranger walked to the end of the room and up a stairway. There were more lights upstairs, making everything clearer. Dirty, red wallpaper with golden ornaments and timeworn paintings of people hanging lopsided decorated the walls. Looking at them sent a chill down her spine, it almost felt as if their eyes were following her. How could anyone live here?  
  
A crunching noise grabbed Aika’s attention. The stranger stopped again and rubbed his shoe against the old marble floor before quietly mumbling to himself “damn parasite.” He continued walking, his shoes clicking quietly. A poor, squished bug was left behind them. Parasite; that was the same thing he called her earlier.   
  
This guy must be crazy.  
  
“KAZU!” The stranger yelled unexpectedly. It didn’t take long before someone else ran into the room they just entered.  
  
“Hey, Takeshi. What’s going on?”   
  
“I found this.” Takeshi dropped Aika down. She struggled not to make a sound when she hit the cold, hard floor.  
  
“Who is this? Did you hurt her?” Kazu sounded way more humane. Aika couldn’t help but feel a slight glimpse of hope; someone cared about her in this god-forsaken place.  
  
“You know me better than that.” Takeshi’s answered, his monotone voice making her feel uneasy.   
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sure you have your reasons. But you  _will_  tell me later."  
  
"I will." Aika slightly opened her eyes to see if they still paid her any attention; which they luckily didn't. She looked carefully at them. The one whose voice matched Takeshi’s was pale, tall and slightly muscular. His thin, shoulder-length, cyber grape hair matched his purple eyes. He looked older than Aika, but not by much: probably two or three years. His presence was just like his voice would make her believe: strict, authoritarian and irritated. Something about him reminded her of Emiko, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.   
  
"How are things going with Taiki?" The other one, Kazu, was a bit shorter than Takeshi. By the looks of it, he was the same age as Aika. His short, thick and tousled, green hair made him appear very gentle. Everything about him felt reassuring, yet… he seemed troubled?  
  
“He is still getting used to Tellus.” Takeshi answered. Did she hear that right?  
  
“We all are.” Kazu said slightly melancholic. What were they talking about? Was there another one of them? What did they mean by getting used to Tellus? This all made her head hurt and she decided not to think about it too much. She didn't understand any of it anyway.   
  
“How we feel doesn’t matter, we just need to get the job done. Speaking of job done: I need to report this to the Guardians. Can you watch over that, meanwhile?” Takeshi cocked his head towards Aika and hastily left the room.  
  
After he left, Kazu went to pick up a book about warfare from a dusty bookshelf in a corner of the room. He opened it on a page with a bookmark in it, and sat down in a worn wingback chair a few meters away from Aika. Did he notice she was awake? Should she try to talk to him? She deliberated over what to say for a few minutes. This could be her only chance.  
  
“Just get it over with.”   
  
“What are you talking about?” Kazu didn't look surprised Aika was awake.  
  
“I’m clearly not getting out of here alive.” Aika knew this was a risky move, but she had to say something. This was her only option; playing on his conscience. Unsurprisingly, nothing they said earlier was of any use to her. Of course they didn't give away their secrets while she was in the same room. Kazu continued to read the book. A few seconds, which felt like an eternity, passed. He turned a page.   
  
“Why do I even bother, it’s not like you care.” Aika tried once more. Words were currently her only weapon; she was still tied up.  
  
“Not that I don’t care… but I don't know what is going to happen either. Don't make such a big deal out of it." Was she wrong about him? Was he just as bad as Takeshi? All the things that had happened this past few days were too much for her. She almost lost her life a few hours ago and for what? To be kidnapped and killed? She’d rather die having fought the monster. A few tears started to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. She looked to down at the ground; she didn't want Kazu to see her tears.   
  
A minute passed and she heard a book close. She glanced upwards and saw that Kazu was walking over to her. He crouched down in front of her.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" He looked concerned at her for a second before reaching for his pocket. He pulled out a handkerchief and held it towards her. What was the deal with this guy? Cold one second and caring the next. She just stared at him in confusion.   
  
"Oh right!" He awkwardly dried away her tears.   
  
"Yeah, sorry. I'm overreacting. " Aika said. Kazu neatly folded his handkerchief and put it back in his pocket. When she thought about it, it made sense. He probably pretended to be unemotional, but was actually thoughtful and loving on the inside.   
  
Kazu sighted. "I can't just stay back and watch you cry. I have a heart, you know." Now that he was this close she noticed how the ends of his hair slightly curled outwards. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen, they glowed with such warmth and sympathy. Looking at his trustworthy expression made her feel safe despite the hopeless situation. She wanted this moment to last forever.  
  
Suddenly the door burst open and a young man appeared with a sword in his right hand. He went straight for Kazu. Aika could only watch in terror as Kazu jumped away, but got cut on his upper left arm. The intruder then turned around and freed Aika. Everything happened so fast she didn’t get a good look at the man before he turned back to Kazu and pointed his bloody sword at him.   
“Koizumi Aika. Hurry up and run away, I will distract him." “Koizumi Aika. Hurry up and run away, I will distract him”.


	5. One of our own

The intruder’s harsh stare pierced through Kazu’s mind, making it impossible to look away. His shoulders slowly rose and sank over and over again. The room was so silent that he could clearly hear the intruder’s deep breathing. He seemed strangely calm; there wasn’t a single sign of nervousness, hesitation or insecurity in him. His expressionless face had no sign of any emotion; it was like staring at a statue. His shoulders moving was the only thing reminding Kazu that he was looking at a living person. He slightly shook his head, forcing himself to snap out of it.  
  
Kazu analyzed him more closely. He looked like a self-proclaimed hero: his hair was long and ash blonde, tied up in a ponytail. He even wore a war uniform with a long, blue cape. The more he looked at, it the more familiar it appeared. Wait… it couldn’t be… The blue war uniform was identical to the ones used 16 years ago: in the infamous Khaos War, named after the war hero Khaos. The one who led their people to victory, but later went crazy and disappeared without a trace.  
  
“I can’t believe you’re throwing away all our morals like this. We used to be such a peaceful nation.” The intruder finally spoke. That sentence confirmed Kazu’s suspicion; this man really was one of them. What was wrong with this guy, didn’t he understand that this was the only way for them to survive? Kazu wasn't happy to be doing this, but they had no other choice.  
  
The two of them were staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move.  
  
Kazu lifted his head and pulled himself together. His attention turned to the girl; she still hadn’t escaped. Looking at her filled him with pity. Her hair was dirty and messy, her clothes were torn and filthy and her entire body was shaken. Kazu knew Takeshi must have had his reasons for kidnapping her, but right now the sight left a sour taste in his mouth.   
But why did she look at him with such horror in her eyes? That’s when he heard it.  
  
Quiet, water-like dripping gently hit the ground right beside him. Kazu slowly shifted his gaze towards the sound. His whole left arm had turned crimson, red liquid dripping down his fingertips, forming a tiny puddle on the floor which increased in size with each passing second. Kazu knew he was wounded because of the intruder's bloodied sword, but he didn't know it was this bad. The wound was still numb and he couldn’t feel anything. He needed to stop the bleeding, but he couldn’t risk letting his guard down. Damn, this guy was no joke; he was going to pay for this.  
  
A light appeared in front of his hands, forming two swords; one long and the other short. He grabbed them and took a decisive step forward while trying to control the violent shaking in his left arm.   
  
“If you don’t leave now he is going to kill you.” The intruder warned the girl. Aika, was that her name? Didn’t hesitate and ran away. For the first time Kazu noticed a slight change in the intruders expression. A not-so-obvious smirk had now replaced his previous emotionlessness. It felt like he was mocking him. Like he thought he had won. Kazu wanted to wipe the grin off of his face. Despite the now pulsating pain in his left arm he charged at the intruder. Steel swords clinked against each other; their ominous sound echoing in the almost empty room.   
  
“Who the hell are you? And how do you know about this place?” Kazu pushed his longer sword against his opponent’s. He took his shorter one and tried to sneak up beneath their clashing weapons. But his rival seemed to have noticed and jumped away.   
  
“My name is Saito Daisuke, and I have been watching all of you for a long time now… Ikisatashi Kazu.” Daisuke’s desaturated blue eyes narrowed in a hateful stare.  
  
Kazu felt his blood boiling in a fiery rage. He screamed and stormed towards his opponent who tensely held his blade, waiting for Kazu to reach him. He swung both his swords against the foe, but he ducked just in time to avoid the attack. All of a sudden a tough force tore his weapons right out of his hands and sent them flying across the room. Before Kazu could react, a powerful blow hit his stomach and tossed him against the bookshelf. He forced himself to hold in a yelp. A few books fell on top of him, spreading dust all around. He sneezed and quickly rubbed his eyes. His swords; where were they? He stood up despite the pain and spotted the swords a few meters to his right. Sprinting, he grabbed them and scanned the room. Daisuke was nowhere to be seen. But Kazu didn’t relax just yet; he could still be there, hiding somewhere… watching him. Saito Daisuke… just who was he…  
  
Someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder.   
Before Kazu could think, his instinct took over. The next thing he knew he held both his swords at Takeshi’s throat.    
  
“Woah, what’s wrong with you? You have that crazy look in your eyes again.” His friend’s familiar voice made him feel more at ease. Kazu lowered his swords and dropped them on the ground.   
  
“Sorry… just a bit on edge.”  
“I’m guessing it has to do with the girl being gone. But first we’ll have to patch up that ugly wound.” Kazu knew Takeshi was right. He couldn’t feel his left arm anymore.   
  
They both sat down at an old, dusty couch in the corner of the room. Takeshi started to take off the cloth he had wrapped around his left arm. As long as Kazu could remember, Takeshi always tore off his sleeves and wrapped them around his arms like that. But that was just a weird Takeshi thing.  
  
“Jeez, you really need to stop ruining your clothes.” Kazu teased him. It also made him feel better, being able to joke around like this with his friend.   
  
“I know, I know. I’m a walking fashion catastrophe.” Takeshi confirmed while wrapping the cloth around Kazu's arm to stop the bleeding. Kazu couldn’t help but laugh. He already felt a lot better. Then he remembered Aika and wondered about her role in all of this. But that was not important now. He was bound to find out eventually and right now he had a bleeding wound, drooping arm and an assassin to worry about.  
  
“So what happened back there?” Takeshi sounded more serious now.   
  
“A man broke in and freed the hostage.” Just thinking about it made his anger rise again.   
  
“Why didn’t you stop him? Even though when I think about it; he must have been very skilled if he managed to hurt you.”   
  
“He wasn’t skilled; I was just being too reckless.” Kazu grumbled. “Also,” he calmed down again “he is one of us, Takeshi.” Takeshi suddenly tightened the cloth too much causing Kazu to flinch. He loosened it up again.   
  
“How is that possible? You, I and my brother are the only ones here.” He sounded something in between unconvinced and worried.  
  
“I don’t know, but I know he knows everything about us.”


	6. The true threat

Aika held around the stranger’s neck as tightly as she could. Even with her weight on his back he ran incredibly fast. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and she could slowly make out that they were in some kind of forest.   
  
She occasionally turned around and watched as the worn-out building became smaller and smaller the further they walked.  She wondered if she should try to talk to the stranger. He did save her life after all; she shouldn’t have a reason to be afraid anymore.  
  
“You should be safe now.” The stranger said. A moment of uncomfortable silence followed.   
  
”Who are you?” Aika’s voice had become hoarse and it trembled. Her body was still shaking.  
“My name is Saito Daisuke.” He sounded as static and serious as he did earlier. Despite that; there was something trustworthy about him.   
  
“How do you know who I am? And who were those guys?” Aika asked about everything that was bothering her. He seemed to know a lot more than anyone else; hopefully he could give her some answers.   
  
“Don't be afraid, young lady, I am your ally.” Ally? Does that mean Kazu was her enemy? “And about those guys; you might already have noticed, but they aren't from Tellus.” There is that thing about Tellus again. Takeshi also called it that. Aliens on Earth? They looked strangely human; if it weren't for the monsters she wouldn’t have believed him. Still; this was a lot to swallow.  
  
"What do I have to do with this? Why did they kidnap me?"   
  
"Because you’re in their way. I’m surprised they let you live that long." So they really were going to kill her. When she thought about it, Takeshi mentioned reporting something to "the Guardians". Does that mean they were being given orders? Then maybe Kazu wasn't doing this because he wanted to.   
  
"How do you know all this? Aika's voice was starting to normalize.   
  
"Because I am one of them." Aika was a bit taken aback by his answer. She should have expected it, but it still surprised her. Probably because of the situation they were in; alone with an alien in the woods at night. The thought was kind of frightening.  
  
"I can't really make sense out of this. Can you please tell me everything that is going on?" Even though she was a little scared she felt like she could trust him. Daisuke stopped and carefully put her down, then proceeded to sit down on a log behind her. He tapped the space beside him twice to signal her to sit down as well. Aika did as she was told. He then took something out from his pocket; a small, transparent, slightly glowing orb.  
  
"Eat this. What it is isn't important right now. The important part is that it will make you heal faster." Aika didn't question him and quickly swallowed it. The best way to describe its taste was something like water; cold, nothing, but still something indescribable. She felt no effects of it yet, but it was still too early to come to conclusions.   
  
"It is kind of complicated, but I'll try to explain." Daisuke took a deep breath. "Kazu and Takeshi, together with Takeshi’s younger brother are here on a mission; a mission to eliminate all of mankind."   
  
No way, not Kazu. He wouldn't want to do that, maybe Takeshi forced him. She had only seen him one time, but felt such a strong connection. She didn't really understand it herself, it just felt right.  
"That’s not possible." Aika didn't know why she said that. It just slipped out. She had to defend Kazu. Daisuke sighted.  
  
"Ever wondered where the monsters came from? Those guys are the ones behind it. The monsters are buying them more time to resurrect Khaos. He is a bloodthirsty solider who was sealed away for his crimes against our people. We need to stop them before history repeats itself."   
"What crimes?"   
  
"There was a war 16 years ago. Our people of Cronos against a homicidal species named Lazar. We barely made it thanks to Khaos; he was seen as a hero after that. Until he lost it and started killing the ones he swore to protect." Daisuke paused a bit. He looked a bit hesitant; like he wondered whether he should tell her more. He clutched his uniform tightly.  
"This uniform I’m wearing belonged to my father who fought in the war. He survived it and I was so happy. Until Khaos killed him and my mother in cold blood because they tried to stop him when he lost his way." Aika could hear the emotion in his voice; it was so different from before. She couldn't see him clearly in the dark, but she wondered if he was crying.   
A few seconds passed.  
  
"I was only five years old when it happened." Aika didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say.  
"I’m sorry, I got carried away." Daisuke quickly got up from the log. He tried to hide it, but she could hear the sadness in his voice. He turned around to her and reached a hand out.  
"Shall we continue?"  
  
***  
  
They had been walking in silence for a while. Aika quickly took a glance at his face. His expression was the same as when they first met; was he just trying to be strong? Poor thing.   
  
“I think you should know,” Daisuke must have noticed that she was looking at him.  
“There is one tiny physical difference between humans and cronians. Our ears are different.” He pushed some of his hair back. The tips of his ears were pointy, not round.   
“Thanks. That’s nice to know.” Aika was convinced he was not lying. A light shone through the trees in front of her. They must soon be out of the woods.   
  
They passed the trees where the light was coming through. Tall, ruined buildings and smashed police cars came into view. She was back at the scene, back where she fought that cruel monster. From the look of it, only a couple of hours could have passed.   
  
“Oh by the way, I wanted to thank you for everything. I…” Aika turned around to Daisuke again, but he was gone. Where did he go? Back into the woods? She couldn’t stop thinking about what difficult situation they all were in.   
  
What a tragic hero.


	7. United

The last class for the day had just ended at Miyazaki High school and Aika walked tiredly through the schoolyard. She already felt a lot better than the day before; that thing Daisuke gave her really helped. Today was a cloudy day, the sun hid behind the clouds. If only she could hide the same way. She couldn’t help but wonder why Emiko hadn’t tried to talk to her all day. Maybe she had given up?  
  
The entire school had been talking about the monster attack from the other day and the mysterious person who defeated it. Aika though Emiko would talk to her about it, but she never did. She was still scared of Emiko but the fear of getting captured again, or killed was stronger. She needed to talk to her as soon as she could.   
  
Not too far away, Aika saw a girl with pink pigtails walking fast while looking down at her watch. She seemed to be headed out the schoolgate. Aika ran towards her, it was now or never.  
  
“MORIYAMA-SAN! PLEASE WAIT!” Aika yelled. She needed Emiko’s help; she couldn’t go on on her own anymore. Not after finding out how big all of this really is.   
Emiko turned around.  
  
“Oh, how the tables have turned.” She sent Aika a sly smile. It took her by surprise, but she should have expected it.   
“Don’t worry, its ok. Come with me, we can talk somewhere else.” Emiko was back to her normal self. Aika followed her all the way to a restaurant named “King and Queen”.   
  
Aika sat on a chair across from Emiko in the staff room. Who would have thought that Moriyama Emiko worked an after school job? Putting that aside, Aika had to lay her cards down.  
  
“This has become too much for me. And what I want to say is… I need your help.” Just as she finished her sentence, she heard a female voice approaching.  
“Took you long enough.” Two girls dressed in the restaurants uniform walked up to them. She didn’t know which one had spoken. One of them smiled towards Emiko and stood behind her. She had short, blue hair which curled in at the ends. She was short, probably shorter than Aika and looked younger than the rest. Aika assumed she was pretty shy by the way she hid behind Emiko.   
  
The other one had wavy, light blonde hair, with the top half tied up in a bun. She was taller than both the blue-haired girl and Emiko. Something about her also appeared more mature and independent than the rest. Aika instantly took a liking to her.  
  
“So you are number four?” Number four? It was the blonde one.  
“Koizumi Aika… right?” The blue one interrupted. Both of them knew about Aika. An idea struck her and she quickly glanced at their wrists. Just as suspected they both had the bracelet in their respective colors.   
  
“Nice to meet you, I’m number two. Some may call me Yumiko.” Weird-number-girl introduced herself and reached a hand towards Aika. She took it and smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.  
“Ignore her, she likes addressing us by our numbers.” Emiko tried to explain. They had numbers?   
“We’re still going to find number five, right? Or should we wait until tomorrow?” Yumiko pointed out. No one answered, they were already headed outside. Aika and Yumiko had to catch up to them. On the way out Yumiko told her number five’s name was Zakura.   
  
***  
  
Emiko proudly paraded in front of everyone else, and the rest quietly followed her. She occasionally glanced down at her bracelet. Aika couldn’t relax; Emiko hadn’t said a word the entire time and the others hadn’t either. The awkward silence suffocated Aika, did Emiko have a plan? Why hadn’t she told them anything? Why wasn’t anyone questioning her? Aika couldn’t take it anymore; she had been through too much these last couple of days.   
  
Aika stopped walking and waited for the others to notice. Yumiko and Reina halted and turned around, Emiko kept walking.   
  
“Something the matter, number four?” Yumiko looked Aika straight in the eyes. Aika hadn’t expected her to care; she appeared way different from earlier today.   
  
Yumiko's question made Emiko turn around as well. When she noticed everyone else had fallen behind, she waited.   
  
“What’s the hold up?” Emiko sounded annoyed. Aika felt like she had to speak up fast, before Emiko got mad.  
  
“How are we going to find Zakura?” The bad communication in the group really bothered Aika. These people were supposed to be a team. Emiko looked even more annoyed now.  
  
“Don’t you think I know what I’m doing? I’ve been a part of this the longest, don’t ask unnecessary questions.” Emiko gestured everyone to continue and turned around again. Aika couldn’t remember the last time she felt so embarrassed. Emiko just humiliated her in front of her new team without a second thought.   
  
Reina, the blue haired girl, ran to catch up to Emiko and sent Aika a displeased look. What was up with her? She acted like Emiko’s puppet.   
  
Yumiko closed in on Aika’s ear.   
“I don’t know everything myself; but there is this tiny robot we call Nikka. It gave us our bracelets and is the reason we have our powers. Nikka can be tracked using our bracelets, which is what number one is doing now. It is most likely with number five since she is the last one.” Weird-number-girl whispered. Nikka? Aika couldn’t recall having seen such a robot. She just woke up one day and had the bracelet, which was impossible to remove.  
  
After a while they entered a sports center. Everyone stopped in front of one of the changing rooms. The stench of sweaty socks and anxiety reeked through the door. Obviously it was locked; Zakura was probably in the middle of a game.  
  
“So what now? Are just gonna watch her play?” Yumiko said sarcastically.  
  
***

  
Aika sat beside Yumiko on a bench in the rear row; both of them were looking at each other in compassion. Reina and Emiko were cheering Zakura on loudly on each side of them. Their intense cheers had attracted a lot of attention. One player in particular sent a smile in their direction; could it be Zakura? She had long, purple hair tied up in a ponytail. The thing that made her stand out from the rest was her speed. She ran so fast and swiftly, it was incredible to look at.

  
***

  
They had returned outside after game and the girl from before stood in front of them. Turned out she really was Zakura. She was strikingly beautiful; tall and slightly muscular. Her long, thick, purple hair was let down this time. It almost reached down to her knees, and her purple eyes sparkled with kindness.  
  
“I think I know why you are here.” Zakura sounded serious. No surprise, she has Nikka, she must know a lot more than them. She also probably expected them to find her soon.   
  
“Yeah…” Zakura continued. She reached for her bag and pulled something out. Something small. But it didn’t look like a robot… unless Nikka was a marker. A goofy smile suddenly spread across Zakura's face as she approached Emiko.  
  
“It’s so nice to meet so many fans! Thanks for cheering me on!” She proceeded to sign Emiko’s forehead. Yumiko apparently couldn’t keep her composure and busted out laughing. Aika barely managed not to do the same.   
  
Zakura reached to sign Reina as well, but she quickly hid behind Emiko. Aika couldn’t help but laugh a little, watching the two of them desperately trying to stop her. Zakura slowly realize what was really going on was the funniest thing she had seen in a long time. Poor thing, she looked so disappointed as she put down her marker in shame.   
  
She reached for her bag once again, but this time took out a small lightblue ball of fluff with pitch black eyes, dark blue wings and white antennas.   
  
“Ma-magical girls. Everyone.” Nikka didn’t sound human at all. Its voice was high and mechanical; it was clearly a machine even if it didn’t look like one. The robot had no mouth, making the fact that it spoke even more unsettling.   
  
“Wait, it can talk?” Yumiko looked horrified at the tiny, fluffy creature. While everyone was busy talking, Nikka started acting strange. It flew around in circles while the antennas were spinning. Zakura's expression darkened.  
  
“Danger. Danger. Enemies approaching.”


	8. A new enemy

“Crystal Pink Diamond! Transform!” “Crystal Sapphire! Transform!” “Crystal Topaz! Transform!” “Crystal Amethyst! Transform!” Aika watched as the other girls transformed; pink, blue, yellow and purple shone brightly around her. Everyone changed similarly to her; dresses in their respective color, ribbons in their hair and the transparent crystal on their chest. Emiko’s hair was the only one that changed its length; it was now almost as long as Zakura’s, still up in two pigtails. All of them had a staff like Aika’s, only in their specific color and crystal on top; all of them had different lengths. Reina with the longest, Aika second longest, Emiko in the middle, Yumiko second shortest and Zakura with the shortest.    
  
Aika studied them carefully. There was suddenly something different about them, aside from the clothing and darker haircolor. They seemed so… strong. And they looked like a determined and skillful team.   
“Aika! Hurry up!” Emiko interrupted her thoughts.   
“Crystal Emerald! Transform!”   
  
All five of them ran after Nikka, who flew across a big park close to the sports center they were outside of. Nikka stopped on the other side of it, but Aika couldn’t see any signs of a monster yet. Could Nikka really predict where they were going to show up? What did that machine have to do with all of this?   
  
Certainly, a moment later, a loud monster cry rang through the air above them. All the people in the park scattered in all directions; everyone knew what those cries meant. A monster resembling something of a huge moth with two sets eagle claws and beak came flying and landed in front of them. Luckily all the people were already gone. Daisuke never told her the specifics about how they were made. Apparently they weren’t something that already existed; they were abominations.  
  
Aika stayed a bit behind the others, who didn't wait for the monster to attack first. Colorful orbs, bursts of light, monster cries and an intense wind from wings flapping surrounded her. She was blind in all the chaos; what were they thinking? Rushing at it like that could get them seriously injured, or worse... she didn’t dare think about it.  
  
The creature lifted one of its claws and tried to strike Aika down. Reflexively she attacked it as it approached her. The monster shrieked in pain and pulled its claw back. A sudden moment of realization hit her.   
  
“Guys, attack the claws! Those are its weakness!” Aika yelled. The others didn’t hesitate and did as they were instructed. Orbs of colored light in different sizes hurled towards the beast’s claws. Aika noticed that the size of each girl’s attack had to do with the length of their staff; longer staff meant bigger, slower orbs. Shorter staff meant tiny, rapid orbs. Also, just like her, no one could spam their attacks. After a while they needed to recharge for a minute.   
  
The injuries from Aika’s last fight still hurt. She had healed quite a lot thanks to that thing Daisuke gave her, but moving around so much made the pain worse again. She distanced herself from the fight to get a hold of herself; that was better than potentially getting herself or someone else sliced up. A distant whistling sound caught her attention. The monster reacted to it and flew back into the air. Aika and the other stared at each other in wonder as it disappeared.  
  
“Did it run away?” Reina looked confused at the others.   
“Is that even possible?” Zakura asked just as confused.  
“Come on, we have to follow it!” Emiko said hastily, ignoring their questions.  
“No! Stay where you are!” Aika had a bad feeling about this. Emiko was a pain, but she didn’t want her to get hurt.  
“Are you crazy? It’s going to slaughter everyone if we don’t stop it!”  
“Something's not right!” Aika yelled. Emiko seemed taken aback.  
“Number four has a point. Monsters never run away, they will destroy everything in their path even if it kills them.”  
“Yumiko, not you too. Fine. Stay here, while I risk my life for those innocent people!” Emiko turned her back to them and started to walk away. That attitude was going to get her killed one day. She didn’t get far before Reina put a hand on her shoulder. Emiko came to a halt and turned around; shocked to see that it was Reina.   
“Emiko, wait. Do you hear that?” Everyone went silent for a few seconds. Aika held her breath. And then she heard it again; the monster's wings flapping in the air. It had returned.   
  
Zakura took a few steps backwards, looking troubled towards the monster.  
“Guys… It has company.” Everyone turned their heads upwards to see what she was talking about.   
“Is that a… boy?” Reina asked. It was. A boy about their age, Aika assumed, stood proudly on top of the monster’s torso. She couldn’t believe her eyes as the creature flew nearer to the ground. The boy was...  
  
Kazu jumped down from the monster’s back. Aika recognized the two swords in his hands; the same ones from that night. He spun around with them at an unbelievable speed, straight towards Reina. At this rate she would get decapitated. A sense of horror filled Aika.   
  
Kazu collided with Reina and an intense blue light almost blinded Aika, and presumably, the others too. Reina had used her staff to create a big, blue orb that she used as a shield. The shield shattered and threw glass-like shards all around them as the two of them were shot backwards in opposite direction of each other. Phew.  
  
Having pushed Reina away, Aika was now the one closest to Kazu. He turned around facing her. He seemed amused about all this; he looked at her with an evil smirk. For a split second she was happy to have his attention; but she quickly realized that he didn’t recognize her with the transform.  
  
Aika backed away a few steps, frightened, and readied her staff to defend herself. As Kazu approached she heard Yumiko scream.  
“Number four, move!” She rapidly shot small yellow-glowing orbs at Kazu. About seven of them rushed towards him. Aika quickly jumped backwards to avoid the attack, but still had her eyes on him. No way could he dodge all of them. She couldn’t believe he would die right in front of her, but she couldn’t look away.   
  
He dodged the first orb and deflected two others with his swords. What? Aika didn’t know that was even possible. He was way more skilled and frightening than any monster she had encountered. Was this really the same Kazu from that night? She looked around; the rest were running towards the city, after the creature. She and Yumiko were the only ones against the alien.   
  
“Keep it together, Aika. Your life is not the only one at stake this time.” Aika tapped her cheeks a few times. Just as she was ready to aid her friend she heard another scream. Kazu had deflected one of Yumiko’s attacks right back at her. She fell unconscious to the ground, wrapped up in a yellow light before her transform disappeared. Kazu walked towards the passed out Yumiko, lifting his longer sword. Aika pressed the crystal on her chest and ran in front of Yumiko, still surrounded by the warm, green light. She spread her arms wide open, as if to protect her friend. Her transform disappeared and she turned back to her old self; the one Kazu knew. She stared him right in the eyes.  
“I know you’re better than this, Kazu.”


	9. A savior's sacrifice

Kazu stared dumbfounded at the girl in front of him. Aika; the same dirty, frightened and helpless girl from the other day. Was it really the same person? He would have never thought she was one of them at that time; even though he should have expected it. Now it made sense why Takeshi had taken her.  
  
She had healed abnormally fast. A picture of Daisuke popped up in his head. No, he wouldn’t. Did the traitor give her Healing Astra? He felt the anger rise in him; Healing Astra was important for Khaos’ resurrection, which again was important to save their people. How could he give something like that to the enemy?  
  
He looked back at Aika. She was either incredibly brave or completely insane. What a nutcase, he could have killed her but she still decided to trust him.   
“What do you think you are doing? Do you have a death wish?”   
“I know you won’t hurt me. I saw your kindness back then. You don’t really want to do this, do you?” She put her arms down. Kindness? Did she even know why he was here? He was no knight in shining armor; he was a rotten, evil individual who didn’t deserve her affection. And he knew it.  
“I would have never acted that way if I knew who you really were, you parasite.” Kazu had to convince her she was wrong.   
  
His words clearly had an effect on her. Aika’s eyes widened in surprise and she put one foot behind the other; as if to take a step back but she stayed in one place. Good. She seemed to become scared of him. But then she took her foot back up front, her eyes went back to normal and she crossed her arms.  
“You didn’t answer my question.” She had been staring him in the eyes this whole time. He was getting frustrated. Did she understand the position she was in?  
“I don’t need to; I could kill you right now.” Kazu tried to scare her again. He didn’t really comprehend why; he had no reason to. Then again; he never really knew why he did anything anymore. Maybe because he always did what was expected of him.   
  
“You say so;” Aika let her arms fall down to her sides and took a step towards him “but both my friend and I are still alive. I’m defenseless now, so what is stopping you?” She took another step. Aika was right. He was contradicting himself. Kazu backed away, uncertain what to do. She had cornered him using only her words; she saw right through him.   
  
“Why are you backing away? You’re way stronger than anything I have ever faced.” She hit where it hurt the most. Her words were like bullets to his heart. Memories of his time on Cronos troubled him; back then he had been admired by everyone for his strength. On a planet crumbling under countless natural disasters; people like him were the most valuable ones. He was expected to be some kind of savior even though he was just a kid; a kid with the fate of a million lives on his shoulders. Some even resented him for his gift; why did they have to suffer while he held all the power? Even though he didn’t choose this life.   
  
“Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?” Aika looked worried at him. He had been silent for too long. What was he supposed to answer? No, he wasn’t okay; he didn’t know who he was anymore.   
“I-I don’t know.” He mumbled. Low grumbling came from behind Aika; the other parasite started to wake up. He wanted to get away from there; his fighting spirit was gone. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a tiny white orb which he hurled to the ground. The orb shattered and sent out a sharp light around him.  
  
  
Kazu suddenly found himself back at the abandoned building that had become his home. The swift transportation left him feeling slightly cold, dizzy and nauseous. He had done it now; that was his only teleportation-orb.   
  
A door opened downstairs and the sound of heavy steps followed. Takeshi. Should he tell him? No, he wouldn’t understand. Takeshi knew who he was; Kazu truly envied him for that.   
  
He wanted to run to his room, but that would make Takeshi suspicious. Instead, he walked casually to the other side of the living room and opened a door. Behind it was a small corridor with two doors on each side; Kazu’s, Takeshi’s and Taiki’s bedroom, and a bathroom. His room was the farthest to the right, after Taiki and across from Takeshi. That meant Takeshi was next door to the bathroom. He remembered when they first decided which rooms they were going to have; they failed to agree and were forced to pull straws.   
Takeshi lost and had been clear that if anyone disrupted his sleep they would have to scrub the toilet with their own toothbrush. Kazu chuckled slightly at the thought; Takeshi looked so intimidating and stiff, but in reality he was just a big dork.   
People like him were rare on Cronos. Everyone was so depressed and on edge all the time. Maybe that was Takeshi’s own way of keeping the hope that one day things will get better.   
  
Kazu went to his room and locked the door behind him. Hiding from his friends like this… he felt like a coward. He shuffled over to his bed on the other side of the room and tossed himself onto it. While reaching for his pillow, he sat up cross legged. He squeezed his pillow tight and looked around the room; this usually helped him calm down when he had a lot on his mind. His gaze followed the timeworn tapestry on the wall; from one corner to the other. A mirror hung on his right and the reflection forced him to confront it. He couldn’t recognize the person staring back at him anymore.   
  
He was supposed to be leading this team, but couldn’t even sort out his own thoughts. Why did her words have such an effect on him? No one had ever made him feel this way before; feel so lost. He should have just killed her when he had the opportunity, perhaps then he wouldn’t be sitting here -like this. But why didn’t he; she was just a parasite, wasn’t she?   
  
A minute passed. He buried his face into the pillow and let out a scream.   
  
Aika was out of her mind, but she had been right. About everything. He finally had to admit it to himself, even though it hurt his pride; she understood him better than he did himself. All the expectations of others had made him lose who he was. Aika had only met him twice and she could already tell that beneath his ego and indifference there laid an ordinary and anxious boy. Someone who had let the pressure of being Cronos’ savoir corrupt him. Takeshi and Taiki were the only ones he could be himself around, but even then he had to keep up a front.  
  
He had made up his mind. Aika made him realize how fake he had become. He had to see her again, talk to her again. Maybe she could help him find himself. This was the one thing that he had decided for himself in ages. The one thing he would do for himself only. The one thing no one had ordered or expected him to do. He wanted to find his long lost self and Aika was the only one who could rescue him. Why had he acted that way towards her? He regretted it. After their next fight he was going to find a way to speak to her again. If she survived it.  
  
For once; it was time for someone else to save  _him._


	10. The price of a secret

Ryuuzaki laid on his bed and admired the ceiling. The wood grain made some interesting patterns; intertwining in some areas and racing forward in others. He had been staring at it for two hours now. It was still dark out when he had woken up, but now the sun shone brightly through his curtains.  
  
He had one of those awful nightmares again; those where a horrifying monster killed him. This repeated itself every night and each time he woke up when he died in the dream. He hadn't been able to fall asleep again after that. For a while now he had been trying to avoid sleep because of this; even though he knew it was impossible.  
  
Every morning, he stared at the ceiling like this; confirming that the patterns were still the same. That meant everything was the way it should be; he had lived through another day.  
  
He finally stood up, changed his clothes and walked tiredly into the kitchen. Hiroto, his father, was making breakfast; scrambled eggs. The smell wasn't bad, but smell of food generally made him nauseous this early.   
  
“Good morning, up early again I see. Do you want breakfast? I've made your favorite.” Hiroto sent him a warm smile.   
  
“No thanks. I'm not hungry.” Ryuuzaki answered. He did his best to smile back at his father.   
  
“Again? You're eating less and less lately. I'm worried about you, Ryuu.” He sighted and put the frying pan away and turned his attention to his son. “I can see that this has become too much for you. Maybe it is time for you to move on; Kazuki would have wanted you to be happy. What happened wasn't your fault; don't beat yourself up over it.” Kazuki. That name brought back hurtful memories.  
  
“Kazuki is gone; his death is not what troubles me. It is that I never know when I'll be next. Those terrible monsters could strike at any moment and I have their enemies in my home. They seem to be somewhat intelligent; what if they come here?” Ryuuzaki admitted. Hiroto turned off the plate and touched Ryuuzaki's shoulder.  
  
“Come here.” They both walked over to the couch and sat down. “Do you regret making the restaurant their meeting point? This is not your fight, you don't have to risk your well-being for this; the girls could meet anywhere.”  
  
“No, they'll be safer here. It is good for them to have somewhere they can always come to. Also, they are risking their lives for us, I can't just abandon them.” Ryuuzaki thought back to when there was just him and Emiko. How the two of them planned all of this; he gave them a second home while she gathered the other girls. Now all of them were finally together, but he couldn't enjoy it. Too much had happened in between then and he had faced death too many times.  
  
“Ever since Nikka came to me and told me to find the girls, I've had a feeling that it's my duty to help them with what I can. I can't fight, but I can support them in other ways.”  
  
“I understand. But what about Tsubasa? You're worried about him too, aren't you?” Hiroto asked.   
  
“Of course I am. What if what happened to Kazuki happens to him as well? I don't want to lose another close friend. Besides; he has been getting curious lately. Especially since Emiko, Yumiko and Reina come and go from work as they please.”  
  
“Do you want me to fire him?” Hiroto looked concerned at his son.  
  
“No. Or maybe... I don't know. I'll think about it. Either way I need to go downstairs now. The new employees should be here soon.” Ryuuzaki stood up and walked down the stairway to the staff room. Tsubasa walked past, completely ignoring him. If he only knew...  
  
Ryuuzaki picked up two uniforms, one with a green ribbon and one with a purple. He waited for a while. The door to the staff room opened and Emiko and Aika entered. Emiko greeted him and went to the changing room. Aika stood there, looked at him and waited; seemingly for him to say something. He should have done something about his appearance to give her a better first impression. Maybe some cleaner clothes? Or at least combed his hair…  
  
“Welcome to King and Queen, my name is Ryuuzaki, but you probably already knew that. Here is your uniform.” After his brief introduction he handed her the uniform.  
  
“Um… thanks? Nice to meet you too…” She looked strangely at him for a second and followed Emiko to the changing room. She seemed nice, but he didn’t have the energy to small-talk.   
  
Some time passed. Where was Zakura? She was half an hour late. Hopefully this wasn't a habit of hers. Just then the door opened once again and Zakura ran in with Nikka hovering beside her. She stopped in front of him to catch her breath.   
  
“You're late.” He looked strictly at her.  
  
“And you are?” She asked and inspected him from top to bottom. Nikka flew to his side.  
  
“Oh! You must be Ryuuzaki-san. I know, I'm sorry. Nikka went off on another false alarm earlier and I had to check it out. You never know when one of those is real after all.” Emiko must have told her about him. Ryuuzaki studied the soaring creature. It stared back at him with it's huge, pitch black eyes; that thing had always given him the chills. He stepped away from it, but it followed.   
  
“That's an acceptable excuse I guess. I have to ask; do the others know about this? The false alarms I mean.” Zakura shook her head in response. “Good. Let's keep it that way. It is better if they don't know.” He handed Zakura her uniform and stared at Nikka for a few more seconds.  
  
“You can take that... thing with you.” He shoved Nikka towards her. Zakura's eyes lit up.  
  
“So I can keep her?” She asked in a high-pitch, happy tone. Her? Did the thing have a gender now? Either way, this was not a conversation he wanted to have with her. Whatever, as long as someone would keep it away from him. Zakura went into the changing room.  
  
“What is the meaning of this, Ryuu?” An angry voice asked behind him. That could only be one person.  
  
“So you met the new girls?” Ryuuzaki turned towards Tsubasa, his best friend. Or, at least he used to be. Until Ryuuzaki started to push him away in fear of losing him. Of course Tsubasa didn't know that; he wouldn't understand.   
  
“Is this why you fired those other two last week? What is happening to you, why are you firing all these people and employing teenagers who don't do their work? Haven't you noticed how they leave as they please?” Tsubasa sounded even more frustrated than usual. Ryuuzaki didn't really know what to say; he knew Tsubasa was right. But it had to be this way. If they couldn't leave work then who would protect them?  
  
“You can't defend yourself can you? You know I'm right. We're practically understaffed; I can't do the job of five others!” Tsubasa's anger rose and turned into pure rage. He grabbed Ryuuzaki by the collar and shook him. “Get your shit together! What's wrong with you? Don't you care anymore? AM I GOING TO BE NEXT!?” Tsubasa yelled. Ryuuzaki couldn't meet his gaze so he just looked away. Right then someone came down the stairway. His father.   
  
“What's all this fuss about? Tsubasa, what are you doing to my son?” Hiroto grabbed Tsubasa's shoulder. He let go of Ryuuzaki and started walking angrily towards the kitchen. If he only knew how badly Ryuuzaki wanted to tell him. But he had told Kazuki and he got too involved. There was no way Ryuuzaki would let Tsubasa suffer the same fate; even if it meant he would hate him. Right before Tsubasa entered the kitchen, he turned around.  
  
“Mark my words! I'm gonna get to the bottom of this!”


	11. Traitor

Kazu panted and looked at the three girls who fought against him. He had to keep distracting them for longer than this. They hadn’t been going on for a long time, but they had already split into two groups. Not that it mattered, Kazu would have easily taken all five of them on his own, it was Takeshi that had insisted to come help him; he was up against the pink one and Aika.   
  
Kazu ran after the purple one. He jumped, readied his swords and struck her from above. His longer sword got stuck in the ground as she bounced backwards. Damn it, she was fast. She was already running towards him. Before he could get his sword out of the ground she jumped on his back to send her flying in the air. No time. He used the long sword to flip over to the other side; dodging multiple small purple orbs. He avoided a few others and kicked his sword out of the ground. It spun a few times in the air and he quickly caught it.  
  
“You’re not the only one who is light on their feet.” Kazu slyly smiled at his opponent. He ran towards her once again, but a huge, blue orb blocked him. He and both the purple and blue girl shot in opposite directions of each other; simultaneously as the blue orb shattered. Not again. But he soon realized that this gave him an opportunity. He now found himself close to the yellow girl from last time. Luckily it wasn’t Aika this time; he didn’t want to hurt her. Kazu sprinted towards her.  
  
“Number five, no!” The girl in yellow yelled. Kazu realized what was going on and spun his swords, causing the purple orbs to deflect away from him. They shattered and exploded all around him, filling the battlefield with smoke. A scream in the fog. He must have hit someone. He walked towards the sound; perhaps the parasite was dead. Suddenly something hit him in the back. The thing exploded and he fell to the ground.   
  
“Reina, finish him!” Someone shouted. Kazu couldn’t get up quite yet; his body wouldn’t listen to him. It still throbbed heavily from the orb’s electric shock, but he managed to keep himself together. He laid there and waited for someone to attack. The smoke had already started to clear up, but it was still too much to tell where the girls were. Then all of a sudden another big, blue orb rushed towards him. He rolled away and forced himself back on his feet.   
  
“That’s it. Playtime is over, now I’m getting serious.” Kazu said in a deep tone while staring at his opponents. The smoke was completely gone now. The yellow girl was knocked down, the purple one and Reina looked at him in fear. He threw his small sword at Reina and charged against the other one. His weapon clinked against her staff. She clearly tried to stay strong, but he could sense the terror and inexperience in her. He couldn’t help but smile; this was all too amusing.   
  
Kazu pulled his sword back and thrust it at her. The purple girl dropped her weapon and grabbed his blade with her bare hands. Blood sipped down onto the ground. The horrible pain in her expression was unmistakable, and yet, she wouldn’t let go. She was not going to last long, she must have planned something. Since she couldn’t use her hands… he looked down at her legs. Just then she tried to trip him, but he saw it coming. He backed away and she backflipped.  
  
“Oh no, you don’t!” Kazu thrusted at her again and was able to stab her thigh. The girl in purple screamed and fell to the ground. Finally. He turned around again; he couldn’t waste more time on her. Reina had avoided his small sword, she was already bend down and about to pick it up. He snapped his fingers and the sword disappeared. She looked startled at him. He then snapped his fingers again and the weapon materialized in front of his hand. He grabbed it and laughed when he saw how confused she was. She gazed at him in terror.  
  
“What are you?”  
  
***  
  
Aika heard Zakura scream in agony in the distance just as she avoided one of Takeshi’s attacks. That huge broadsword of his would probably be able to slice a rock in two. Aika ran around him and made an opening for Emiko on the other side. Emiko shot five pink orbs at his back, but he quickly turned around and used his sword as a shield. She then ran to Aika, avoiding a couple attacks on her way.  
  
“He is blocking all our attacks; we can’t get through his defense.” Emiko said, panting and worried.  
  
“I know. We’re going to need another strategy.” Aika whispered to her. She had to come up with something fast; Zakura sounded like she was in trouble and most likely, the others were too. She looked above Takeshi, and then it struck her. She held her long staff horizontally in front of her.  
  
“Emiko! Jump!” Aika yelled. Emiko stared at her in confusion for a second.  
  
“NOW!” Aika yelled even louder. Emiko did as she was told and jumped on top of Aika’s staff. The momentum shot her a couple meters up in the air. She attacked Takeshi from above using all the five orbs she could at once. He looked up and defended himself from Emiko’s attacks. Aika watched his every move and waited for an opening. There. She ran towards him and shot her own, bigger three orbs at him. All three hit him and he fell to the ground with scream. Smart, he must have alerted Kazu with that. If he was done with the others he would come for them. Where did Emiko go?   
  
Aika looked around quickly and spotted Emiko. Oh no. She was running straight towards Takeshi. Didn’t she understand it was a trap? Kazu could be here any second.   
  
“EMIKO, WAIT!” Aika yelled at the top of her lungs. It was too late. Takeshi had gotten up and grabbed her arm. She lost her staff and he beat her repeatedly until she was unconscious. Aika couldn’t do anything but to watch; she was frozen in fear and knew she couldn’t do anything to help.   
  
She was alone against Takeshi and an approaching Kazu. But then she heard someone else coming.  
***  
  
Kazu ran in the direction of his friend’s scream. Hopefully nothing too bad had happened. As he got closer he started to make out Takeshi and… someone else. Someone familiar. Wait. His blood froze at the sight before him.  
  
Takeshi held his broadsword upwards; ready to strike the pink girl who lay unconscious on the ground. Daisuke, the intruder from the other night, had pierced his sword through his best, and only, friend’s heart. The world stopped for a few seconds. Daisuke pulled out his sword from Takeshi’s chest, blood splashing from the wound. Takeshi fell to his knees, then, to the ground. Daisuke slowly turned towards Kazu. Kazu met his cold, expressionless eyes.  
  
“This is a warning. Leave this planet.”  
***  
  
Aika watched as Kazu aggressively charged towards Daisuke. But something was wrong; he fought in a blind rage. It was clear that he fought out of emotion. Poor thing. Aika could only imagine how much agony he was currently in. Swords clashed and sparks flied. They were so fast she couldn’t keep up with their movements. There was something mesmerizing about watching two really strong aliens fight each other.   
  
“Aika. The guy is still breathing, finish him off!” Reina was apparently okay and had cought up to her. Aika aimed her weapon at Takeshi.  
  
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!” Kazu suddenly stood in front of her; his voice sounded heartbroken and desperate. His eyes were pleading “Please don’t take him away from me.” Aika didn’t like Takeshi, but he was Kazu’s dear friend. She couldn’t kill him. She discreetly nodded to Kazu and lowered her staff.   
  
“What are you hesitating for? He is our enemy!” Reina charged one of her own attacks and aimed it at Takeshi. In a panic Aika ran towards him; she had to protect him. Daisuke ran after her, grabbed her hair and pulled her against him.   
  
“Where do you think you are going, young lady?” He put his bloody sword to her throat. Takeshi’s blood dripped down on her.  
  
“KAZU! GET AWAY FROM HERE! AND TAKE TAKESHI WITH YOU!” Aika cried right as Reina attacked. Kazu pulled out one of those white orbs from Takeshi’s pocket and hurled it to the ground. Just like last time they disappeared in the sharp light. Daisuke let go of her. Aika realized what she had just done. Reina looked dumbfounded at her.  
  
“ _Whose_  side are you on?”


	12. Astra's Legacy

An hour had passed since Emiko and the others went back to the restaurant and Daisuke had given them the weird transparent orb; Emiko already felt its effects. He explained that it would keep them alive and help them heal faster, but it would take them a couple days to recover completely; most of them were seriously injured after all. He had told them who he was; a cronian who fought on their side. Kazu, Takeshi and someone named Taiki were also cronians from planet Cronos. They were the ones they fought earlier and the ones responsible for the monster attacks. But the monsters were just a distraction from their real goal; resurrecting Khaos.  
  
“I understand, but how did the monsters come to Earth? The same way as you I assume.” Emiko asked. Daisuke went silent for a second and seemed to think about his answer.  
  
“You’re mistaken. The monsters aren’t a lifeform of Cronos. Truth be told; I don’t know where they came from.” Daisuke finally said. Emiko sent Ryuuzaki a concerned look. He must have hoped that Daisuke knew something more about them.  
  
“That’s… unsettling. But what about you four?” Emiko looked back at Daisuke.  
  
“Yeah, I didn’t hear anything about a spaceship crashing nearby.” Yumiko said in her usual sarcastic tone.  
  
“Explaining that requires you to know a lot of other things.” Daisuke crossed his arms and inspected everyone in the room; almost as if he considered if he should tell them or not. It made Emiko a bit uncomfortable; he was on their side, right?  
  
“About 5000 years ago there lived a famous healer on Cronos. Her name was Astra. She created something named Healing Astra in order to help people in need; it is the thing I have given you.” Daisuke sighed and the strict air around him seemed to let down a bit. Everyone was silent and waited for him to continue.  
  
“Astra died, but left behind four disciples. They became known as Astra’s successors, also called The Guardians; because they are believed to guard Astra’s knowledge- her legacy to our people. They live hidden; concealed from society. Some even doubt their existence. Khaos, the tyrant I told you about, will be resurrected using Healing Astra.” The tension in the room grew as Daisuke told Astra’s story.  
  
“What does that have to do with being Astra’s successors?” Zakura broke the silence.  
  
“Everything. The successors are really powerful healers; they’ve transcended healing, and even Astra herself. They are the ones who sealed Khaos away after all.”  
  
“Can’t they just remove the seal if they are that powerful?” Aika asked. She had a point.  
  
“No, that’s what the Healing Astra is for. By resurrecting we mean to remove the seal.” Daisuke simply answered.  
  
“If Astra was from Cronos then why is Healing Astra on Earth?” Emiko still wasn’t convinced. Truth be told, she didn’t trust him. He saved them, but it could all be a trap.  
  
“Tellus and Cronos are very alike. Healing Astra is not discovered here yet so only cronians know where and what to look for. Since every cronian knows about this there isn’t much of it left on Cronos and that’s why gathering lots of it is easier on Tellus.” Daisuke explained.  
  
“So, you’re gathering this to slow them down? Is that why you’re here?” Ryuuzaki finally spoke. He went over to Emiko and took a seat beside her.  
  
“Precisely.”  
  
“And how does all of this tie to how you cronians came to Earth?” Ryuuzaki seemed as skeptical as Emiko. It made her happy that he agreed with her. The two of them had been in this together for the longest after all.  
  
“The Guardians sent us here to gather Healing Astra. They believe it is Astra’s will to resurrect Khaos and take over Tellus. I pretended to be on their side so that they would send me here and I would be able to help you.” Daisuke went back to his normal, stern self. Ryuuzaki just nodded. The staff room went silent for a minute; until Daisuke turned to Aika.  
  
“By the way, did you gain any information from Kazu and Takeshi when they held you hostage?”  
  
“WHAT?” Everyone yelled simultaneously. Emiko already felt her rage rise; if this was true Aika was stupid for keeping it a secret. How could she?  
  
“I… I didn’t. They only mentioned The Guardians once and something about getting used to Tellus.” Aika looked at the ground in embarrassment.  
  
“Hold on a second! Are you trying to tell me you were kidnapped and didn't say anything?” Emiko’s voice got louder and she looked angrily at Aika.  
  
“Is this why you knew their names? But it doesn’t explain why you saved them!” Reina yelled. Aika appeared frantic; almost like she wanted to run away.  
  
“SAVED THEM?” Emiko couldn’t believe it.  
  
“If it weren’t for Daisuke she would have attacked me!” Reina explained. Seeing Reina this upset worried Emiko a lot. She basically never yelled at anyone, whatever Aika did must have really scared her.  
  
“You did what!?” Emiko tried to calm Reina down.  
  
“Wait! Back when you and I were fighting Kazu; how did we escape? No way you beat him on your own.” Yumiko suddenly appeared really nervous. That Aika; what had she done with Emiko’s team? She needed to keep a closer eye on her from now on.  
  
“How could you, he tried to kill us all!” Zakura slammed her fist on the table.  
  
“How could you keep something like this from us?” Reina shouted.  
  
“You’re putting us all in danger!” Emiko got up from her chair and headed towards Aika. Walking still hurt incredibly, but she kept going. A hand on her shoulder stopped her and she turned around.  
  
“Hey, calm down. I’m sure she has her reasons.” Ryuuzaki let go of her shoulder after a few seconds of silence. His hand was shaking.  
  
“Reason!? Those guys are the ones responsible for Kazuki’s death!” Emiko let her anger take over.  
  
“DON’T MENTION THAT NAME!” Ryuuzaki screamed. She purposely hit a nerve, she wanted to get back at him for taking Aika’s side. Soon after the staff room filled with voices screaming back and forth at each other.  
  
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Daisuke commanded. Everyone went silent. “Don’t turn on each other, that’s what the enemy wants.” He proceeded to walk over at Aika’s side.  
  
“I don’t know what Kazu told you, but don’t think you’re special to him. He is just using you to their advantage. Don’t be sad, he would have done it to anyone of you. You were just unlucky.” Aika looked heartbroken after hearing the truth. Served her right. Daisuke then turned towards the rest.  
  
“When I saved her from them she was beaten to the bone. She could barely walk. This isn’t her fault, it could have been any of you. But now she knows better and won’t keep important things from you anymore, right Aika?” Aika nodded, still looking depressed.  
  
After things had calmed down Daisuke walked over to Emiko and handed her a Healing Astra.  
  
“Keep it in case anyone needs it. You’re the leader so I trust you. It is the last one I have left so I’ll go look for more.” Emiko nodded and took it. She then spotted Ryuuzaki who was headed upstairs. She had to apologize for earlier; it was childish of her to act the way she did.  
  
“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned Kazuki. I’m also sorry that you always have to deal with my temper, I hope you can forgive me.”  
  
“Don’t worry, you’re already forgiven.” Ryuuzaki said. Emiko gave him a hug; it just felt right at the moment.  
  
“Hey, you did the right thing. With Tsubasa I mean.” Emiko let him go.  
“Thanks, it was really difficult to fire him like that. I’ll go upstairs now, I need to be alone.” Ryuuzaki went upstairs and she was left alone. She should head home, it was getting late.  
  
As she passed the kitchen she heard a voice. Daisuke? Didn’t he leave already? Her curiosity took over and she eavesdropped on him.  
  
“Long time no see, little buddy.” Daisuke said happily.  
  
“Yes, master.” Nikka’s robotic voice responded.


	13. Blood Moon

Kazu knocked on the door to Takeshi’s room. He slowly opened the creaking door. A few drops of sweat dripped down his forehead, but he quickly dried them away with his shaking hand. He had entered here countless times the last few days, but it still made him nervous.   
Takeshi sat on his bed; fiddling with his fingers while gazing out the open window. Heavy raindrops made their way through it; wetting the big, red nylon carpet on the floor. He turned towards Kazu.   
  
“Hello again.” Takeshi said trying to sound happy though Kazu could see that he was in pain. Still; he seemed to be in better shape than yesterday. Kazu felt relieved. His biggest fear these days had been to enter Takeshi’s room only to find him laying lifeless in his bed.   
  
“How do you feel? Any better?” Kazu closed the door behind him and sat down on a wooden chair beside his friend. Just then piercing thunder stroke from the sky. Kazu jumped from his chair, causing it to fall, and slammed the window shut. His heart pounded fast and he didn’t let go of the window just yet.   
  
Takeshi looked concerned at him. “You know we’re not on Cronos anymore, right? Nature here is merciful, no need to be so afraid of it.” Funny how Takeshi always ended up comforting him; even when he was the injured one.   
  
“I can’t help it, Takeshi, these things terrify me. One time I tried to save a group of people from a thunder storm in my home village. I failed and witnessed all of them fried alive in front of me.” Kazu pulled the curtains and sat down beside his friend. “But enough about me; you didn’t answer my question earlier.”  
  
“Kazu, I’m fine now. Don’t worry about me so much.” Takeshi brushed him off.   
  
“Don’t worry about you? You’re  _lucky_  to be alive right now. He  _missed_ , Takeshi, he didn’t spare you.” The thought scared Kazu more than the thunder. Losing Takeshi is the worst thing that could happen to him.   
  
The door suddenly opened and Taiki entered with hurried steps. Taiki was a 15-year-old boy with scruffy, short white hair and purple eyes just like Takeshi’s. He clearly tried to imitate his brother; with an open west layered over a blue hoodie with its arms ripped off.  
  
“So, you’re here again.” Taiki turned to his brother “I see your wound has healed a lot. Good thing I gave you that Healing Astra; though The Guardians would kill me if they found out.”   
  
“They would have to go through me first.” Takeshi declared.  
  
“That wouldn’t be too difficult taking your current position into consideration.” Taiki answered while picking up Kazu’s chair from the ground. He sat down on it. “Anyway, that’s not what I came here for. I have news from Cronos.” Great. Just when Kazu had gotten his mind on something else.  
  
“The protesters attacked a training camp yesterday.” Taiki explained.  
  
“Another one? Why do they attack the people who protect them?” Takeshi calmly asked. Kazu relaxed; he thought it would be something more serious. Like a new tornado wiping another town away.  
  
“They’re just a minority though, nothing to worry about. Most of the weak ones understand that they’re not oppressed. Some mistreat them, yes, but it’s far from reason enough to rebel like this.” Kazu stated. The protesters were more of a nuisance than a threat. They caused a fuss from time to time, but it was never anything to worry about.   
  
“Guys! You don’t get it… they executed someone. Publicly.” Both Kazu and Takeshi’s jaws dropped. They both looked at each other and then at Taiki. Speechless.   
  
“I can’t believe they would do such a thing. Cronians killing each other is unheard of; the only exception being Khaos… and that’s the reason he was sealed away.” Takeshi finally said. And they were here to remove that seal. Suddenly it sounded like a really bad idea. But this was the only way; or else the cronian people would go under together with Cronos.  
  
“Well, the guy who did it must be in the same category. I mean; he  _did_  wear the Khaos War uniform after all.” No… no way. It can’t be… “The protesters cheered afterwards and chanted the executioner’s name. I guess he is their leader, what was it? Saato… Saito! Saito Daisuke.”  
  
Kazu was in shock. [“I have been watching all of you for a long time now.”] He tried to say something, but stuttered and stumbled on the words. [“This is a warning. Leave this planet.”] He couldn’t say a coherent sentence; his mind was just a huge mess of thoughts. [“KAZU, GET AWAY FROM HERE!”] He didn’t even know where to start. He supported his head on his hand. The only thing he could do was to look down.  
Takeshi elbowed him on his side and brought him back to reality. He glanced at the doorway and froze. Hecate. One of The Guardians. She was quite tall; taller than Kazu for sure. She wore a long, navy cloak with light blue ornaments. The hood hid her eyes, but Kazu still felt her gaze piercing his soul.   
  
“We wish to speak with you. Come at once.” She stretched out her arm and opened a portal. Every time on them did this it made Kazu uneasy. Even for Astra’s descendants that kind of power was unbelievable. The Guardian entered. Takeshi quietly grunted while trying to get up. He was clearly still too weak to go anywhere on his own. His arms were shaking and he just fell down on the bed again.  
  
“Takeshi, you know we are here for you, right?” Kazu grabbed one of Takeshi’s arms and carefully put it around his shoulders.   
  
“Stop being so stubborn and let us help you.” Taiki did the same thing. The second they entered the portal they were surrounded by a blinding light. Kazu struggled to walk forward; it felt like an invisible force pushed him back. He was freezing and the only thing he could see was The Guardian standing beside the other end. Kazu pulled himself together and kept going together with Takeshi and Taiki. They finally got out on the other side; on Cronos. The four Guardians were waiting for them; all dressed in the same dark robe and with their eyes hidden. Being this close to them was suffocating. There was an ominous aura around them.  
  
“We need to show you something.” Helios, another Guardian said and pointed to the sky. The moons. Cronos had two moons; one red and one white. The red was usually hidden behind the white, but would sometimes show. There was a superstition here that said when the red moon shows; a disaster would strike. Tonight, the crimson one glowed direly above them. Kazu may have imagined it; but it appeared bigger than last time he saw it.   
  
“It rarely hides anymore. The blood moon has become more common than the white; it doesn’t disappear even in the day light.” Hecate explained.  
  
“It is like Cronos itself is trying to warn us. The end is near.” Right as Helios said that Kazu heard an ear-splitting thunderclap, followed by countless screams in the distance. Kazu reflexively ran towards the screams, but he didn’t come far before he was stopped by an invisible shield. The sudden clash caused him to fall down. He quickly got back up; they needed his help, he couldn’t just watch. But the invisible barrier was still there. He hit and punched at it with everything he got, but nothing happened. He took out his swords and tried to slice it.   
  
“LET ME OUT! CAN’T YOU HEAR THEM DYING?” Kazu yelled. There was not enough time. He hit the barrier with all his strength. His arms started aching. It didn’t matter, those people needed his help. He hit once again and kept going. The thunder fell in a forest and started a wildfire. He had to save them.  
  
“Kazu, that’s enough. There is nothing we can do about it.” Takeshi’s strong hand grabbed Kazu’s arm. Kazu calmed down a bit and realized how mad he must have looked. In the end, he couldn’t help anyone: not his people, not Takeshi, not even himself.  
  
“He is right, fighting is futile. Besides; this storm has lasted for a week. We wanted to tell you that you’re almost out of time. Khaos needs to be resurrected during the next six months. We’ll send out more monsters to Tellus; they’ll take care of your enemies while you gather Healing Astra.” Ouranos, the third Guardian, explained.  
  
“You; the next generation of Astra’s successors need to work together to save the cronian people. Their lives are in your hands.” Ares, the last Guardian, continued. “All four of you.”


	14. Human

Aika ran around the slimy monster and tried to dodge its rapid attacks. The only light source she had was Emiko’s and Reina’s glowing orbs and a few streetlights. From what she could make out the monster was an unusually small, slimy blob; and its attack was shooting hardening goo out its mouth. Aika readied her staff to attack, but the monster got her in advance. With no time to think, she threw herself on the ground; successfully avoiding the monster’s attack, but scraping her knee on the asphalt.   
  
“REINA!” Emiko yelled. Aika quickly turned to Reina; ignoring her burning knee. Reina and the top of her staff, the crystal she used to attack, were covered in the hardened goo. In a rage Emiko blindly attacked the slimy creature. Aika figured it would be best to help Emiko; or else she’d turn everyone against her again. Ever since Daisuke visited the restaurant she felt that everyone was watching her like a hawk.   
  
Aika and Emiko’s combined power pierced the monster and it fell defeated to the ground. Soon after the goo surrounding Reina slowly started to dissolve. After a minute, it was completely gone.    
  
“Those damn aliens, I wish they never came here.” Emiko muttered and started walking away. She and Reina removed their transform, but Aika didn’t dare yet. For some reason, she felt like someone was watching her from the shadows; she hadn’t been able to shake off this feeling through the whole fight. What if the cronians planned a sneak attack?  
  
“Hurry up, Aika!” Emiko said impatiently. Aika stumbled after them and involuntarily removed her transform, but was ready to change back if necessary. After a while they split up and everyone went homeward. Not long after she heard something and tightly clutched her bracelet in anticipation.  
  
“Aika.” Aika startled; she recognized that voice. Kazu. Phew, that feeling earlier must have been him. She turned around, her heart pounding fast, and saw him stand a few meters in front of her. Her eyes brightened up and she ran towards him, ready to give him a hug. But she stopped herself right before; she remembered what Daisuke had told her. Before she managed to think anything else he hugged her tightly. She forgot all her worries from a moment ago and reciprocated it.   
  
“Sorry I followed you, but I had to see you again… talk to you again.” Kazu whispered in her ear. His warm breath sent chills down her spine and his strong embrace made her feel safe. Right now, she didn’t care that they were enemies fighting against each other in a war of survival. And she was sure he felt the same way.   
  
“I’m so happy to see you again.” Aika hugged him even tighter and wished they could stay like this forever. A few minutes later they slowly let go of each other.  
  
“Thanks for saving Takeshi and sorry for calling you parasite, I didn’t mean what I said back then. You understand me better than anyone else and I don’t want us to be enemies.” Kazu admitted. His words made her feel happiness from the bottom of her heart; a feeling she had forgotten a long time ago. Though she was surprised at his sudden honesty, he must have changed quite a bit since last time they talked. She wondered what had made him so straightforward; either way she was pleasantly surprised.  
  
“I’ve already forgiven you.” Aika sat down on a bench nearby and Kazu sat down beside her. He looked like an angel in the soft and gentle streetlight. Every time she saw him she fell harder in love with him. He was the only one who truly cared about her and yet they were expected to kill each other. What a cruel world.  
  
“By the way, you remember the guy who hurt Takeshi? His name is Daisuke and he is the same guy who saved me that night. He told us everything about you, Astra, Healing Astra, The Guardians and even Khaos’ resurrection.” Aika trusted him and wanted him to know everything. She didn’t want to keep any secrets from him.  
  
“That’s strange, I thought you were working together long before he saved you. So, you didn’t know any of this before that night?” Kazu looked at Aika and she shook her head in response.   
  
“But there is one thing I didn’t understand; why do you want to wipe out humanity? To me it doesn’t make sense why a kind and compassionate cronian like Astra would wish for something like this.”   
  
“I don’t know what the traitor told you, but Astra was human.” Kazu casually responded. Wait, hold up a second! Aika was speechless; she couldn’t remember the last time she felt so confused. Suddenly she realized how blindly she had trusted Daisuke. When did she let her guard down like that? He had put his sword to her throat and she hadn’t even questioned it. His every move, every sentence was so carefully thought out and calculated no one would be able to see through it. But Kazu saw the world through different eyes; if anyone could expose Daisuke it was him.  
  
“Astra’s story is told to all cronians; her story is the one of our origins. 5000 years ago Astra of Tellus created Healing Astra to help the human race. But Tellus’ natural disasters terrified her and she feared doomsday would come. So, Astra and her chosen successors, The Guardians of then, helped them flee to a planet later named Cronos.” Kazu explained. It terrified Aika how Daisuke’s fake version sounded more believable than the real.  
  
“How did they flee from a planet?” Aika leaned her head on Kazu’s shoulder. She let herself relax and listened to the story with interest.  
  
“You know we have magical powers, right? Astra and the Guardians opened a portal and got as many people as they could to Cronos. But she and her successors weren’t strong enough to keep the portal open for too long and it ended up taking their life. The strongest were the priority and a lot of the weaker people got left behind. This divide is still a problem among us; even in these desperate times.”  
  
“So, you’re trying to tell me… we are just the weak cronians who got left behind all those years ago?” Aika could barely comprehend it all. How could something huge like this be forgotten with time? Astra’s story wasn’t just the one of the cronians; it was the one of the humans too. They were two sides of the same coin.   
  
“Powerless cronians; seems your magic disappeared with the generations. Though you could also turn that sentence around and say we are the strong humans who got away.” Did that mean that Aika’s and the other girls’ powers were connected to Cronos? “But it turned out Cronos only got worse and worse as centuries passed; at this point in time it is nearly destroyed.” Poor Astra, Aika thought. She died thinking she saved them, but she actually sent them to their doom. A knot tied in Aika’s stomach; she almost didn’t want to believe it. How could she fight them now that she knew how miserable they were? Earth wasn’t chosen by chance… they were just going back home.  
  
“We get that what we are doing isn’t right, but what other choice do we have? As next in line to Astra’s successors, it is our duty to ensure the safety of our people; like Astra once did. But I truly don’t want you to die and I wish there was another way.” Aika saw the pain and sadness in Kazu’s eyes.    
  
“I… I don’t know what to think anymore…” Admitting it broke Aika’s heart. Kazu took her hand and held it in his. “Daisuke may be horrible, but he  _did_  save me after all.”   
  
“I understand, but I think you should know that he is also one of Astra’s successors. He is tricking all of us and he has The Guardians wrapped around his finger. Whatever he is planning, it’s working. Please be careful, you and Takeshi are the only ones I have.” Kazu looked pretty upset talking about it. No wonder, Daisuke almost took them both away from Kazu in the blink of an eye. If only Emiko and the others knew how dangerous he was; but she couldn’t tell them because of the way she acquired the information.   
  
“I have to leave, it is not safe for us to be together like this for too long.” Kazu said as he stood up from the bench. Aika panicked; she didn’t want him to leave yet. She knew they had to go their separate ways, but there was one last thing she wanted to do.  
  
Aika ran up to Kazu and he turned around. He looked confused at her, but before he managed to say anything she kissed him on the lips.   
  
***  
  
Aika kept walking, happier than ever. Maybe her life would finally take a turn for the better. Then a thought struck her; by being with Kazu she is betraying her team. If Emiko and the others found out who knows what they would do. She didn’t dare think about it. Then something else caught her attention; a sense that someone was keeping an eye on her. It still hadn’t disappeared; wasn’t it Kazu? Who else? She glanced all around her, but spotted no-one. Then she switched her gaze to the rooftops. She froze in place.  
  
On a rooftop to her right lurked a female figure. Her long hair tied up in a ponytail blew sinisterly in the cold, night wind. She held what appeared to be a scythe and for a second, Aika met her glowing red eyes. A cronian? She had never seen a person with that eye-color before. Suddenly the figure jumped away and disappeared. If it weren’t for her hurt knee, Aika would’ve transformed and chased her.   
  
But something told Aika this wouldn’t be the last she saw of the mysterious girl.


	15. Nikka's warning

The adrenaline rushed through Ryuuzaki’s body as he ran down the endless corridor. His perception of time had completely vanished. For how much longer did he have to stare at the cobblestone blur before him? At the darkness in front of him? There were no doors or windows in this hellish place; no exits. He was trapped here, trying to outrun the bloodthirsty beast that chased him, for all eternity. 

Ryuuzaki looked behind him; the monster was closing in. He tried to scream for help, but not a sound came out. He was getting tired and noticed how his running slowed down with each step. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the beast caught up to him. One step. His body felt so heavy. Another step. A light at the end of the tunnel; he could make it. A sense of relief hit him, he only needed to push forward. A little more. The light slowly closed in. 

Suddenly he hit the cold, hard cobblestone. His scratched-up hands shook violently as he tried to push himself back up. A giant paw grabbed his legs and dragged him backwards to his doom. Ryuuzaki turned around and saw the monster’s strangely familiar blue eyes right before…

***

Ryuuzaki startled and quickly sat up. He was covered in sweat and his head felt heavy. He looked down at his still trembling hands; no scratches. Confusedly, he glanced around the room; he found himself back in his bedroom. Another nightmare. Would they ever end? A knock on the door abruptly interrupted his thoughts. A few seconds later the door carefully opened.

“Ryuu, you have a guest. Come downstairs” Hiroto, his father, informed him. 

“Do I have to?” Ryuuzaki asked tiredly. He then proceeded to check the ceiling; the patterns were still the same. He sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. Who would be looking for him? Tsubasa? Maybe he came to try to get his job back; he needed the money after all. Though Ryuuzaki didn’t want to, he got ready for the day and went downstairs to meet his guest.

In the staff room stood a tall, almost scrawny girl. Her smooth, raven black hair was tied up in a high ponytail that reached down to her hips. She wore a dark gray sweatshirt tunic with leggings and knee-high boots. Covering her beautiful brown eyes were… sunglasses? 

“Sachiko!” Ryuuzaki ran up to his girlfriend and gave her a hug and a kiss. A month had passed since last time he saw her because she lived pretty far away. He had often wanted to visit her, but his many responsibilities here had hindered him. 

“Hey Ryuu, nice to finally see you again. But I have to ask; would it kill you to visit me once in a while?” Sachiko said in a joking manner. He let out a small laugh, though he knew she actually meant it. After all; she had a hard time at home. Her parents always favored her younger sister and Sachiko would be the one to take all the blame for everything. He had witnessed it several times himself and it made him furious every time. Truth be told, it surprised him that they had allowed her to come here, no, they wouldn’t have; she must have snuck out. But he didn’t want to bring that up now and ruin the mood.

“What’s the deal with the sunglasses?” Ryuuzaki teased her and reached a hand out to take them off. To his surprise she blocked his hand and pushed it back. He stared at her for a second; when did her grip become so strong?

“I’d rather keep them on. Please respect that.” Sachiko’s voice suddenly sounded kind of wistful. He apologized and decided it would be best to change the subject. There was so much he’d wanted to talk to her about and he finally had the opportunity.

As they spoke, Yumiko came out the kitchen carrying a tray full of food and drinks. 

“Who’s the new girl; number six? You think you can handle one more?” Yumiko teased him as she walked by. Ryuuzaki nervously looked at Sachiko, who stared suspiciously at him. He had only told her about Emiko’s powers when they had teamed up to find the rest. Shortly after Kazuki had died and he never got to tell her about the rest. Oh well, she had to find out sooner or later.

Just then a yell caught his attention. Yumiko. She had tripped and all the plates with food were in the air about to spill onto the floor. Before he could take a step, Sachiko had already cached everything and carefully placed them on the tray Yumiko had picked back up. She stared dumbfounded back and forth between Sachiko and Ryuuzaki.

“You’ll have to be more careful.” Ryuuzaki walked over to Yumiko and helped her stand back up. As she got back up on her feet, the realization of what happened hit him. Sachiko’s reflexes were exceptional, but bizarre; as good as, or better than the magical girls’. She had reacted almost as if she knew Yumiko would drop those plates.

“When did you become such a charmer? I mean, I already knew you were a ladies man, but-” Yumiko taunted him.

“Haha, funny as always.” He interrupted sarcastically “Yumiko, this is Sachiko; my girlfriend.”

“Oh… Who would have thought?” Yumiko said with a big grin and Ryuuzaki answered her with a frown.

“Shh! Do you guys hear that?” Sachiko asked. Nikka’s robotic voice faintly rang in the air, seemingly coming from the changing room. Shortly after the door burst open and Nikka flew towards Sachiko, followed by Zakura halfway changed into her uniform; she didn’t have the apron on and the uniform shirt was put on backwards. She didn’t wear any shoes either.

“Danger. Danger. Enemy. Danger. Danger. Enemy.” Nikka spun around Sachiko and kept repeating itself. Sachiko took a few steps back and tried to shake the robot off in a slight panic. The sunglasses made reading her expression hard, but Ryuuzaki could tell she was getting quite anxious. He couldn’t stand watching Nikka harass her like that. In a moment of blind rage, he grabbed the tiny, fluffy creature and threw it on the wall. It hit it hard and fell to the ground.

“Zakura, I forbid you to bring that broken thing into this restaurant ever again.” Ryuuzaki said in his most serious tone. He noticed Yumiko in the background slowly and awkwardly exiting into the dining area. He didn’t pay her any attention.

“But Ryuuzaki-san, you know how important Nikka is for us, we need her.” Zakura sounded almost desperate. The robot had already flown back up and returned to her.

“Get it out. Right now. That useless thing is only right 50% of the time anyway.” Ryuuzaki angrily pointed at the exit door and Zakura quietly walked towards it. Right before she left she turned towards him and gave him a concerned look. 

As soon as Zakura had gone outside he was left in complete silence. Sachiko carefully went over to him and put her pale hand on his shoulder. 

“Ryuu… are you sure that was the right thing to do? Sounds like Nikka is really important to all of you, even if it is wrong sometimes.” Her voice was soft and calming, she always spoke that way to him when he was stressed out. 

“How do you know about that?” His eyes widened with surprise. Who could have told her?

“I put the pieces together, I already knew about Emiko so figuring out the rest wasn’t too difficult.” Sachiko suddenly sounded more serious as she crossed her arms. Right then the door from the dining area opened once again. This was why he rarely went down here; someone would always barge in and interrupt whatever he was doing. 

Suddenly the smell of roses filled the air around Ryuuzaki. Emiko. She seemed to be in a haste and rushed over to him. 

“Ryuuzaki, I need to talk to you; it’s about Daisuke, he knows Nikka a-and-” Emiko frantically whispered. 

“Emiko, I don’t have time for this.” He answered her briefly. He was fed up with that robot, just hearing its name made him furious.

“But you don’t understand! She called him “master”!” 

“Again with the “she” thing? It is a robot, Emiko. Nikka clings to whoever it finds convenient at the time; me, Zakura and now Daisuke.” Ryuuzaki brushed her off again.

“You don’t get it, he didn’t tell us about her. He might be hiding something big.” Emiko raised her voice slightly. 

“Daisuke saved your lives, big deal he didn’t tell you about the stupid machine.” 

“That “stupid machine” is the reason we have our powers! Don’t you see how important this is?” 

“Emiko, enough!” She froze bewildered in place and Ryuuzaki turned his back to her. “Go bother someone else.”


	16. Survival of the fittest

Aika leaned her head on Kazu’s shoulder and looked up at the night sky. Thousands of stars gleamed above them where they sat on the top of Tokyo Tower. For the past three months, ever since she first kissed him, they had met up here one or two times a week. It seemed like the safest place for them to meet without being noticed by the others. Kazu had been silent for a while; he probably had a lot on his mind. After all, the future of his entire people rested on his shoulders, they trusted him and he was dating his enemy… 

“Don’t worry so much. You’re still loyal to your people; you feeling this way is proof of that. Daisuke is the real traitor, not you.” Aika tried to comfort him.

“I love you… Though it hurts me that I have to keep this a secret from Takeshi. I feel like I’m betraying his trust, I’m kind of torn between the two of you.” Kazu rested his head on his hands.

“I love you too. It sounds like you are very close, maybe you could tell him? It would make you feel better too.” 

“Long ago he might have understood, but now he has become too loyal to The Guardians. He doesn’t see that we’re just their pawns… If there only was a way other than Khaos’ resurrection…” Kazu went silent again.

“It is going to be okay. Maybe one day they will all understand. Speaking of Takeshi; he has been pretty hostile towards me, but you care about him a lot. What happened between you; I want to know the Takeshi you do.” Kazu let out a sigh.

“I was a lot different back then. I’ve changed to the better and I owe it all to Takeshi.”

***

A 13-year-old Kazu gazed at the huge building in front of him. This was where he would spend the next 24 hours, battling other cronians for his honor; honor being the prize everyone wanted. Every year all the schools in his home region held a tournament; everyone from a school was split up in groups of four across classes. The strongest member of the group was the leader and Kazu had always been the leader of his team. Though this was all just a way for the grown-ups to disguise the dark truth; these tournaments were meant to train the children to be able to handle a catastrophe when it strikes. It was also a way to know who to prioritize during a calamity.

“It’s amazing that they let us come and train at the most prestige training camp in the world!” Kazu overheard a girl say enthusiastically. 

“Well of course, Ikisatashi Kazu is in our school after all. Only the best is good enough for someone of his caliber.” Another girl answered her. Kazu noticed that she crossed her arms and hatefully glared at a blonde boy from his class. “Though I wish the weaklings didn’t get invited, they’re just going to slow everyone down.” 

“Ugh, don’t stare at him. You don’t want people to think he is worth your attention.” The first girl said with a disgusted tone. “He is the weakest in our school, I’m surprised they even allowed him to come here. Poor guys who get him on their team.” 

Kazu tightened his grip around the sheet of paper in his hand. On that piece of paper stood the names of his teammates this year. Two of them were Keima and Joshi; his older friends. They were both pretty strong and the three of them got along well. The problem was the last member; he looked around and slowly opened the paper for the 20th time today. Kurosaki Emon; the blonde boy those girls were speaking about. But no matter how long he stared at it, the name it didn’t change. Wasn’t it punishment enough that they were in the same class? He let out a sigh. 

“Aw man, I can’t believe we got paired with Kurosaki Emon.” A familiar voice blurted out. Keima had snuck up on him and ripped the paper out of his hands. He glanced at it for a second before handing it to Joshi; who also had shown up out of nowhere. 

“You mean the incompetent coward with elemental powers who can’t even light a match-stick? That sucks, it’s going to drastically reduce our chances to win.” Joshi proceeded to burn the paper; showing off both his powers and displeasure. 

“Don’t worry guys, I’m still on the team you know. That should be enough.” Kazu tried to reassure them. Right then, a loud alarm signaled for them that it was time to gather inside for further information. Everyone started to walk towards the main hall inside the building. A sense of urgency hit Kazu; Emon easily blended with the crowd and he had already lost sight of him. He frantically ran around until he spotted him.

“There you are.” Kazu grabbed Emon by the hood of his sweatshirt. “Come on; I don’t want to be late because of you. I have a reputation to take care of.” The four of them followed the masses towards the entrance. Suddenly Kazu heard someone fall behind him and turned around only to find Emon on the ground. He looked around but no one seemed to care.

“Hey loser, don’t walk so close to Kazu; we don’t want your weakness to rub off on him.” Keima said shortly after. Then him and Joshi burst out laughing. Ugh, they didn’t have time for this nonsense right now; they had a competition to get ready for. 

Kazu and the others had finally gotten in the main hall. It was packed with students talking and loudly laughing with their friends while waiting for today’s activities to start. All of a sudden the big door at the back opened with a blast. At the doorway stood a group of four; two boys and two girls. One girl had long, red hair tied up in a ponytail; Kazu could sense her thirst for battle across the room. She would make a worthy opponent. The other girl was short and tan with boyish short, blonde hair. A healer, Kazu assumed, judging by her demeanor. The youngest boy had short, white hair and slouched behind everyone else; he seemed indifferent… almost annoyed that he had to be here. But it was the oldest boy who really stood out. He had long, purple hair tied up in a slick ponytail, and the arms on his shirt were ripped off. Tall and slightly muscular, he appeared strict, authoritarian and intimidating. Kazu felt so tiny and insignificant in his presence. Ugh, was this how the weak ones felt?

Everyone in the crowd started whispering  
“Psst, that tall boy there is Ikisaki Takeshi.” “What? No way, you mean as in The Rock Slicer?” “Yeah, I heard he has won the tournaments three years in a row.” “Do you think he will become the next Khaos?” “Shh, don’t mention that name in public. Also; you’re not supposed to joke about things like that.”

The group of four walked in and the mass split up in the middle, creating a path. They stopped besides Kazu’s group. Kazu inspected them for little while more until his gaze landed on Takeshi; but Takeshi was already staring at him, and for a brief moment their eyes met.

***

“Aww man, that was a long speech. But now that that’s over with, I’m ready to kick some butt.” Keima eagerly said as he stretched out. But Kazu couldn’t focus; the only thing he could think about was Takeshi and his team. The way everyone admired them pissed him off; they should have admired him instead. He was the strongest after all, and he was going to prove it.

Kazu and the rest had walked around for a while and watched a few battles. Joshi had his first one a bit earlier against the red-haired girl from Takeshi’s team, but lost. Luckily Kazu and Keima had won both of theirs; even if Keima lost Kazu would probably be able to carry his team. This was how it usually went down after all. Someone pulling on his shirt interrupted his thoughts. Kazu turned around and saw the young, sloppy boy from earlier. 

“Hey, have you seen my group? I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about.” The deadpan kid asked. Something about his indifference put Kazu off; it wasn’t exactly normal behavior for someone his age. Typical behavior would be his complete opposite; exited and curious. 

“Aw, are you lost, little guy?” Keima asked with an underlying mocking tone. The kid didn’t answer, he just stared unamused at him. “What’s your name? How old are you?”

“Taiki. I’m 10” 

“10? So it’s you first time here. Well, Taiki; I think I saw them a bit earlier so if you come with us, I’m sure we’ll find them.” Joshi said. They were obviously plotting something, but Kazu just let them go. As long as they weren’t in danger, it wasn’t his responsibility. 

“Ouch, they won’t know what hit them.” Emon mumbled under his breath; if the others hadn’t left Kazu probably wouldn’t have heard it. Right, he was alone with Emon now. When he thought about it; the two of them had never really had a conversation. Emon wasn’t exactly the talkative type and he was usually grumpy. 

 

A few minutes of unbearable awkward silence passed. Kazu had tried to start a conversation a couple of times, but Emon brushed him off each time. Kazu gazed in pity at him; he had angrily kicked a rock back and forth since Keima and Joshi left. That blonde guy was always in a bad mood; no wonder he didn’t have any friends.

Finally, Keima and Joshi returned after what felt like an eternity. Kazu walked towards them; he couldn’t stand more of Emon’s attitude. But then he noticed that they looked kind of funky. They staggered visibly, their hair was a mess and Keima’s glasses were broken.

“What happened to you two?” Kazu looked concerned at his friends. 

“Well you see; there was this group that tried to beat Taiki up because he is weak. We couldn’t leave him there and had to protect him. So we fought them off and got him to safety.” Joshi told him. As he explained what happened Kazu saw someone approaching. It looked like… The Stone Slicer. He turned Keima around, grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up. 

“Where is my brother, creep?”

“Let me down, you maniac! Why don’t you pick at someone your own strength?” Keima kicked around mid-air and tried to get away from Takeshi’s tight grip.

“Yeah, why don’t you?” Emon mockingly said under his breath. Kazu didn’t pay him any attention and turned back to Takeshi.

“I have witnesses that you were with him earlier.” Takeshi said threateningly.

“Hey, stop it! They were just helping him!” Kazu finally had to get involved, though he didn’t want to cause a scene. But he couldn’t just watch this guy harass his friend. Takeshi dropped Keima down. 

““Helping him”. And I can burn down this place with my amazing elemental powers.” Emon scoffed at them. Kazu just ignored him, he was too busy with what went on in front of him.

“Kazu, are you really gonna let him get away with that?” Keima stared hatefully at Takeshi. 

“Yeah, teach him some respect.” Joshi tightened his fists and stood in a fighting position. 

“How about you fight your own battles?” Takeshi looked at them challengingly. Both of them hid behind Kazu and waited for him to do something. Kazu didn’t want to fight him though, there was no reason for violence. “Anyway, you didn’t answer my question; where is Taiki?” Takeshi crossed his arms. 

“He is fighting in the arena inside.” Emon stood up and walked over to them; he finally said something of use.

“…How did you know?” Kazu asked.

“Unlike you I actually pay attention to my surroundings.” It took Kazu everything he had not to start something with Emon. Fighting him would be really unfair anyway; so he just kept it in.

“Thank you.” Takeshi immediately ran inside.

“Maybe we should go as well. He would be happy to see you two again; seeing as you saved him and all.” Emon smiled slyly. Kazu didn’t know what was going on, but Keima and Joshi appeared very anxious and hesitant about it. It wasn’t like them not to talk back; something was going on. Kazu nodded approvingly and started to walk towards the entrance. He suspected that they hid something from him and he wanted to find out what.

On the short way from where they were standing earlier and to the building, Keima and Joshi did everything in their power to keep Kazu from entering. They tried to convince him that watching a weakling’s fight was a waste of time and that it was probably already over. But Kazu had already reached the door to the arena. Loud, energetic cheering escaped the walls. He opened the door and was met by hundreds of people shouting and chanting Taiki’s name. Kazu’s jaw dropped when he saw was transpiring in the ring. 

Taiki fought one of the strongest people in Kazu’s school; but the poor girl didn’t stand a chance against Taiki’s attacks. The girl from Kazu’s school had a clear advantage with her wind powers, but the way Taiki used his bow made it impossible for her to attack him. He was incredibly fast, he shot arrows at her from all directions and waited for an opening. She was stuck constantly defending; he had worn her out a lot and it was amazing that she had kept up all this time. The sweat dripped down her forehead and her body was shaking. Kazu stared in awe as the girl fell exhausted to the ground and Taiki stood above, aiming at her chest; claiming his victory. The crowd burst out in extraordinary cheers and a couple of healers entered the arena and took the defeated girl with them. 

“Weak!?” Kazu yelled when Taiki exited the arena.

“Uh… yes?” Taiki answered confused.

“No, I mean: you’re not weak!” Kazu still couldn’t believe what he just witnessed. 

“I never said I was…” 

“You didn’t? No, it was Keima and Joshi… Oh…” Kazu’s tone darkened as he realized what was going on. They lied to his face and didn’t bat an eye. Who knew how many times they had been doing things like this; they were supposed to be his closest friends. Kazu felt his anger rise; those two were going to hear it when he found them… Suddenly he felt someone tap his shoulder from behind. He quickly turned around and saw Takeshi stand there.

“You’re Ikisatashi Kazu, right? It’s our turn.”

Kazu reluctantly entered the arena. His heart was pounding fast and his palms were sweaty. This wasn’t like him; why was he so afraid of Takeshi? He should have watched some of his fights; then he would have known his attack pattern and maybe a weak spot. But thinking about it didn’t help him now, it was already too late. 

Takeshi entered from the opposite side with heavy steps, seemingly unfazed by what was about to happen. The whole stadium burst out in violent cheers and chanted his nickname, but he didn’t give them any reaction. He just stretched out his arm and his weapon materialized in front of him. It was a huge broadsword, probably as big as Kazu. Kazu swallowed a lump in his throat as Takeshi picked up the sword with ease and stared at him.

“Ready your weapon.” Kazu brought forth his two swords, one shorter than the other, and prepared for the battle. Then the starting signal went off and the audience became dead silent in anticipation. It was like time had stopped for everyone except him and his opponent.

Kazu stood in a battling position and waited for Takeshi to make the first move; attacking him would be reckless considering he didn’t know his skills. The Stone Slicer charged towards Kazu at full speed. The heavy sword definitely slowed him down, but he was really fast despite it. 

Kazu jumped to the side, successfully dodging Takeshi’s attack. His heavy weapon got stuck in the ground where Kazu was standing seconds ago. Was this guy actually trying to kill him? Takeshi was already back on his feet, ready to attack. Everything went so fast, Kazu wasn’t used to such intense battles. Takeshi showed him no mercy and the only thing that would secure Kazu’s victory was to somehow switch their roles; put his rival on the defense. 

But Takeshi was already heading towards Kazu again. Maybe he could use the size of his opponent’s sword to his advantage? Kazu waited for Takeshi to get close enough and jumped on top of the large weapon. He shot up in an arch above Takeshi and spun around with his swords; hindering his opponent to get too close. Kazu heavily landed on the ground and lost his balance for a moment. But he quickly regained it and headed straight towards Takeshi who had turned around and waited for Kazu to attack.

Sweat dripped down Kazu’s forehead as he repeatedly slashed against Takeshi’s sword, trying to break through his defense. But he managed to block every attack and they were stuck in a loop; the sound of their weapons clashing filled the room. Kazu had to think of a different strategy, at this rate he would tire himself out before he could land a hit. He gathered all of his strength for a last powerful blow against his opponent’s sword before pulling back. But then something unexpected happened. 

Kazu couldn’t believe his eyes as his last attack caused Takeshi’s weapon to rip right out of his hands, spin in an arch behind them and land way out of Takeshi’s reach. This was his chance; it was now or never. Kazu struck forward towards his defenseless rival, but he was way faster now and ducked underneath his attack. With Takeshi suddenly out of view Kazu spotted the ridiculously big sword on the ground in front of him. But then it started to rapidly disperse and in a few seconds it was completely gone. Before he managed to process it, he fell hard to the ground; Takeshi must have tripped him. He stood above Kazu and pointed his sword at his throat.

The audience lost their mind, they were all screaming like wild animals. He… lost. Takeshi had beaten him so effortlessly, Kazu had never been so humiliated, so… degraded in his life. He looked up at Takeshi who put away his sword and reached a hand out to him. 

“Good fight, long time since I had one.” Kazu slapped away his hand and looked dissatisfied aside. Further away he could spot a group of healers coming his way. He was already embarrassed enough, no way he would let himself appear even more pathetic. He had to get out of there before the healers caught up to him. Kazu got up from the ground and sprinted for his life out of there. He felt like everyone’s eyes were on him and he could hear faint whispers all around him: “I can’t believe it… someone beat Kazu…” “Looks like he wasn’t as strong as he wanted us to believe after all”. 

 

Kazu sat on a big rock and looked up at the white moon looming above him in the dark night sky. He didn’t know how much time had passed since he ran away from the arena, but it had gotten significantly colder. No one had searched for him yet; no one cared enough. Why should they, he was a weakling. Suddenly he heard gentle leaves rustling behind him and a twig break. He quickly dried what was left of his tears and turned around. The Stone Slicer carefully approached him.

“Are you here to mock me? Though I guess I deserve it, I lost after all.” Kazu tried to sound like his usual self, despite feeling the pressure from the lump in his throat. 

“Sorry if I offended you back there, but I’m not here to humiliate you any further. I just want to talk, would you hear me out?” Takeshi asked. Kazu didn’t know what to say so he just nodded. He didn’t have anything more to lose anyway. Takeshi sat down beside him. “I think you need to know why I won. Because you are stronger than me; the reason I beat you is that I have a more efficient way of thinking in combat… also, your reaction time is slow.” 

“That makes me weaker, doesn’t it?” Somehow Takeshi’s explanation didn’t exactly make him feel better. 

“No. That mindset is exactly why I’ve managed to win four years in a row. I make my opponents think they can win against me, then I strike them down when they think they have the upper-hand.” Takeshi said. 

“In other words you’re just here to brag.” Kazu still didn’t see the point of this conversation.

“It’s not bragging. You have no idea how many sacrifices I’ve made to be where I am today.”

“Guess what, we’ve all made sacrifices. Our planet is dying if you haven’t noticed.” Kazu scoffed.

“Forget it, that talent is wasted on someone like you.” Takeshi stood up and started walking away. He probably did this to get a reaction from Kazu… but still; he didn’t want him to leave. He was the only one who cared enough to look for him. 

Kazu stood up, brought forth his longer sword and ran towards Takeshi; this was the only way to stop him. Takeshi ducked and grabbed Kazu’s leg. Before he knew it, he was hanging upside down and had dropped his weapon on the ground. Takeshi kicked Kazu’s sword up with his foot and caught it.

“You’re too predictable.” Takeshi dropped Kazu to the ground and started playing with his sword. “You can only get so far with brute strength alone, to reach full potential you’ll need to change your way of thinking.”

“You’ve really planned this speech of yours, do you preach this nonsense to everyone you defeat?” Kazu stared displeased at him from the ground. 

“You’re quite famous too you know.” Takeshi flipped the sword up in the air, making it spin, then cached it. “I’ve wanted to battle against the great Ikisatashi Kazu for a long time, sad to say I was kind of disappointed.” 

“Are you done?” Kazu frowned. Takeshi threw the weapon back to its owner. Kazu clumsily caught it and put it away.

“Almost. What I’m trying to say is; I see your potential and it would be a shame to waste that talent. I know you want to become stronger and I can help you with that.” Takeshi crossed his arms and waited for Kazu’s response.

“Why would you help me, what is it in for you?” Kazu asked suspiciously. Takeshi got lost in deep thoughts for a few seconds. His eyes inspected Kazu from head to toe. Kazu started to feel slightly uncomfortable.

“I don’t like seeing that kind of potential go to waste. Besides, you remind me of my past self.” Takeshi finally said. That guy always sounded so casual… but he didn’t seem like a bad guy at all. Kazu’s first impression of him had been pretty spot on, but in a positive way. Takeshi somehow made strict, authoritarian and intimidating good qualities. Also, he could stand his own ground, unlike Keima and Joshi. There was probably a lot of things Kazu could learn from him.

“… Fine! You’re right, I need to be stronger. I haven’t improved at all the past two years.” Kazu had to admit. He couldn’t find out why he hadn’t been improving and maybe Takeshi had the answers. This could be an amazing opportunity for him.

“Great, I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.” Takeshi smiled for the first time. 

Suddenly it started to rustle in the bushes behind them. Both of them turned around and waited to see who else was coming. A few seconds later a familiar silhouette appeared.

“Kazu, we’ve been looking all around for you. You missed Keima’s fight; he lost so looks like our team is out.” Joshi exclaimed. For a second Kazu was happy to see his friends again, but it soon turned to anger when he remembered what happened last time he was with them. They probably lied to him now too.

“What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be celebrating?” Emon looked at Takeshi. 

“Oh, I totally forgot about that, guess I’ll be heading back now then. Kazu, you’re invited.” Takeshi turned around and started to walk away.

“Don’t be so full of yourself, you only won because you cheated! Come on Kazu, let’s go.” Keima shouted at Takeshi. Kazu hesitated; Keima and Joshi were his only friends, but Takeshi was there for him when no one else was. He couldn’t stand them talking to him like that. He didn’t cheat either; he had beaten Kazu fair and square. 

“No.” Everyone stared funny at him. “I’m going with Takeshi.”

“What do you mean you’re going with The Stone Slicer? He’s off to celebrate your defeat, remember?” Joshi yelled. Takeshi walked back over to them and put a friendly arm around Kazu’s shoulders. 

“Great, you deserve to enjoy yourself after getting this far.” Takeshi ignored Kazu’s former friends. The two of them started to walk away.

“Kazu, wait!” They stopped and Emon caught up to them. “Look, I still hate you! But… good for you; those guys were only trouble, you’re better off without them.” Then he ran away. He was a weird one, but he wasn’t such a bad person after all. Hopefully he would find a friend that would see past his weakness and appreciate him as a person soon.

***

“Whoa… People like him are rare, I wish I had someone like that.” Aika said wistfully. She remembered how Daisuke had almost killed Takeshi a while back, and how Reina almost made her do the same. She was so happy she chose to help him instead; even though it cost her the trust of her teammates. But Kazu’s happiness was more important. Aika looked at him, but he still appeared troubled. There was still something on his mind.

“There is something else bothering you, isn’t there?” She asked worried. Kazu fumbled around in his pockets for a moment and took something out. A small, transparent orb; Healing Astra.

“Take it.” He looked sincerely at her.

“What? No, I can’t. What if you’ll need it?” Aika refused to take it. Besides, they still had the one Daisuke gave Emiko a long time ago.

“I’m sorry, Aika, but my reasons are more selfish than that. You see; that Healing Astra is the last one needed for Khaos’ resurrection. I found it earlier this week, but said I didn’t. We only have three months left until Cronos destroys itself.” Kazu explained.

“Then why?”

“I can’t explain it, I just… don’t want this to end yet. Don’t worry, we’ll find another one before time runs out. But the sun is coming up soon, we should leave.” Kazu gave her the Healing Astra again and . She was left there in wonder and glanced down at the tiny orb in her hands. 

Aika trembled. Khaos would be resurrected soon and both parties would be forced to fight for their survival. But would she be able to kill Kazu then?


	17. The monster within

Ryuuzaki sat peacefully on the coffee brown couch in the living room. He had just gotten out of bed and made himself a cup of green tea. He took a sip and glanced back at the newspaper he was reading. “Monster attacks decreasing” was written in big, bold letters. The article told about how during the past month monsters had been showing up less frequently. That was really good news; it looked like what the girls were doing helped and maybe this war would end soon.

Suddenly everything around him started to shake violently. Earthquake? No, that was not it. It was almost like someone was banging at the walls of the restaurant, trying to break it down. He put the newspaper down and slowly stood up from the couch, wondering if he should go down and check on the others. Hopefully they were okay. The shaking grew more violent, causing the paper to fall from the table; his tea cup followed, spilling the contents onto the page and blurring the headline. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a monster’s scream. 

Ryuuzaki didn’t ponder anymore, he ran downstairs as fast as his legs could carry him. The staffroom was filled with panicking people, and more were coming in from the room entrance. They were gathered there to keep them away from the big windows in the dining areas. They were screaming and crying; a couple had fainted and others were yelling on the phone. Ryuuzaki’s father argued with small group trying to run out from the emergency exit.

Ryuuzaki’s heart pounded heavily. Where was Sachiko? What if she was still in the main dining area? He tried to force his way through the masses to get to her. More people running to safety pushed him out of their way. After a short while, he finally managed to exit the staffroom. He looked around and spotted Aika helping the last few guests who seemed to scared to move.

“Oh, Ryuuzaki-san, you’re safe.” Aika said relieved when he walked up to her. But the only thing that occupied his mind when he saw her was why she wasn’t out there fighting. He frantically grabbed her shoulders and shook her. 

“What are you still doing here? There is a monster outside!” Ryuuzaki yelled. Aika stood there silently and looked at him as if he had gone completely mad. He immediately stopped shaking her and let go of her shoulders.

“Keep it down, you’re frightening the guests even more. Emiko and Zakura are already out there, I’ll get going once the guests are evacuated.” Aika reassured him and headed to the staff room. He ran after her and grabbed her arm.

“Wait, it’s trying to get inside, you have to stop it!” He desperately begged. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s too small to enter the building. Look, I understand that you’re afraid,” Aika grabbed his trembling arm, looked him concerned in the eyes, then carefully put it down. “But we need someone who can have our back. You’re not helping anyone by acting all hysterical.” Just as she finished her sentence Sachiko hastily approached them. Thank god, she was safe. He ran up to her and gave her a hug. 

“There you are, I’m glad you two are okay.” Sachiko said. The sounds from the battle outside intensified. A sudden loud crash startled all three of them. Aika stared restlessly at the exit. 

“Yeah, we’re okay. Stay with Ryuuzaki, I need to go.” Aika said and ran away. Sachiko already knew about the whole magical girl thing, so Aika didn’t have to hide anything. He let go of the hug and looked at her. She still wore those sunglasses and had refused to take them off for the past three months. He had stopped questioning her about it, but it really bothered him. Something was obviously wrong, but right now wasn’t the time to discuss that. 

Ryuuzaki walked to one of the big windows and looked outside. The girls were fighting and trying to keep the monster as far away from the restaurant as possible. The creature was pretty big, probably three times his size. It was rusty red, with long, green nails like knives sticking out from its fingertips. Its head was shaped similarly to an alligator with long sharp teeth matching the nails. Its body moved so unnaturally it sent shivers down his spine. The monster chased Zakura and attacked her so that its back was facing Ryuuzaki. In the middle was a giant eye, staring right at him. He couldn’t help but to stare back for a second; something about it was so hypnotizing. Immediately, the beast charged towards him. Ryuuzaki quickly moved out of its sight and Sachiko did the same. A few seconds later the window shattered into a million pieces and the monsters claw came through the opening. 

Ryuuzaki stared horrified at the huge arm and long claws close to him. At this distance the details of the dry, crusty skin were really apparent. It was even cracked open in multiple places. The hand felt around the room, presumably trying to find a victim. The nails destroyed everything they touched and made a couple scratches on the tile floor. Shortly after he heard Emiko attack, followed by the creature scream and the hand pulled back out.

Ryuuzaki had seen countless monsters on TV and up close, but something about this particular beast was different. It terrified him like no other had done before. He didn`t understand why, but he felt like it was targeting him; like it was trying to tear down the restaurant so that it could kill him. But he knew that was impossible, monsters couldn`t be that intelligent. And even if they were; why would it go after him? 

Sachiko had been silent all this time. It was enough that she was there, she didn`t need to say anything. Words would only make it worse; they were similar in that way of thinking. A loud, pained scream interrupted his thoughts. Ryuuzaki looked out the window again and saw Aika lying on the ground, blood running down her leg. Her staff was no-where to be seen. He jumped out the broken window without thinking. The cold air blew against him as if trying to stop him, but he had to get to Aika. He had to show that he could be of use to them. The beast was distracted by Emiko and Zakura while he caught up to her.

“Aika, are you in pain? Don`t worry, I have your back.” Ryuuzaki put her arm around his shoulder and lifted her up.

“Ryuuzaki, what are you doing!? Go back inside!”

“But you’re hurt, you can’t fight like-” He was interrupted by a horrifying monster cry. He looked up at the sinister sight unfolding in front of him. The creature’s bloodthirsty gaze pierced his soul. It charged towards him, ignoring everything else around it. Emiko and Zakura tried to stop it, but it pushed them away. Ryuuzaki was paralyzed, he couldn’t do anything. He knew he couldn’t escape. The sound of everyone screaming for him to get away got mixed up in his mind. 

This was it. He knew he didn`t stand a chance against that thing. This was all his fault, if he hadn’t forbidden Zakura to bring Nikka here, this wouldn’t have happened. If he had just listened and stayed inside… He closed his eyes and prepared for the end. At least he had spared Tsubasa this fate. 

Suddenly everything became dead silent. Aika stopped screaming, the monster’s footsteps were gone. Ryuuzaki slightly opened his eyes and looked down at his shaking hand and then at Aika to his right. She gaped in pure shock straight ahead and he slowly turned towards where she was looking. There, a few meters in front of him, laid the monsters severed head, it’s empty gaze staring into nothingness. A little behind it rested the body, both of which slowly evaporated. And in the middle, facing the other way, stood Sachiko wielding a bloody scythe. Her sunglasses had fallen on the ground. She turned around and he met her blood-red eyes. 

 

Emiko was speechless. Sachiko had shown up out of nowhere and so swiftly and effortlessly beheaded the monster. She slowly turned around, inspecting everyone with those demonic eyes. 

“You… you morons!” Sachiko broke the silence “If you had a drop of cooperativeness in you, you would have easily taken it down!” 

“You have no right to speak to us like that, we`ve been protecting the world for a long time now. We just did what we’ve always done.” Emiko defended them. 

“That’s the problem, Einstein. I’ve seen you fight before and it’s always the same pathetic stuff. I know you like pretending that you can do no wrong, but you`ve been blinded by living in your own wish-fulfilling, perfect little world.” Sachiko stared angrily at her. How dared she accuse her like that in front of everyone, how humiliating. Emiko had always done everything in her power to do the right thing. It wasn’t her fault that the others couldn’t see that. “Anyway, that not the main issue.” Emiko was about to argue further, but that reminded her of why they were in this mess to begin with.

“You’re right. Zakura, why didn’t you bring Nikka? What were you thinking!?” Emiko yelled.

“I’m sorry.” Zakura said shamefully while looking at the ground. 

“Sorry isn’t good enough!” 

“Emiko, please stop. I… I forbid her to bring Nikka here… This was my fault.” Ryuuzaki stepped forward. Emiko got quiet and looked at him in disbelief.

“Ryuuzaki? What? This is a joke, right?” Emiko was taken aback and her tone changed from angry to a mix between shocked and upset. 

“It’s not a joke. I’m sorry.” He confirmed. Emiko did her best to hold back both tears and anger. Her world was on the verge of crumbling, she had failed as a leader. Everyone acted behind her back and kept secrets from her. They probably didn’t know how much it affected her. 

“A lot of people could have died today because of your unreasonable hatred for Nikka. She is our only way of knowing when our enemies will strike. I know you’ve had a hard time ever since she came to you, but it is time for you to move on.” Emiko did her best to keep calm, the last thing they needed was more pointless arguing.

“Guys!” Aika suddenly yelled. She squinted her eyes, looking in the direction of where the monsters body laid. It was probably almost evaporated by now; the whole area was covered in smoke around it. “I think I see something there!”

Emiko walked into the smoke to take a closer look. Admittedly, there was something resembling the contours of a human lying in the center. She bowed down and started to recognize the person. It was… Tsubasa. He laid there unconscious, partially wrapped in the monster’s body. No, not wrapped… it was a part of him. Emiko’s stomach turned from the sight of the flesh connecting to Tsubasa’s skin. It slowly turned into smoke, constantly freeing tiny parts of her friend’s body. Emiko couldn’t look anymore and took a few steps back. How could they not have checked what happened after the monsters were defeated before? She had always assumed they just disappeared completely. She was the type of person who always had her sight set forward, never looking back. She had also pushed the others with her and she had gotten mad if they questioned her. Sachiko was right, they were pathetic, no, she was pathetic.

Emiko walked past the others and approached Sachiko, ignoring the questions everyone was asking as she went by. 

“You are right, I need to change. But I need to ask you something: what’s the deal with your eyes and powers?” This was too much for her and she needed some answers.

“I don’t really know. Honestly, I just woke up one day and my whole body was in sharp pain, it wore off after a while and I suddenly had these powers and my eyes had changed color. I can’t explain it really well; once I had them it was almost as if I had been born with them, or like my brain was programmed to know how to use them… I know that doesn’t make any sense, but…” Sachiko didn`t say anything else. It did make sense to her though, explaining the feeling of having powers was… challenging. 

“How weird, you have the agility of a magical girl but the powers of a cronian… is there anything else you can do?” Emiko asked. Sachiko looked confused when she said cronian, but shook it off. Emiko took that as a sign that she didn`t know about Khaos and all that. 

“I can see clearly in the dark and slightly into the future of what a person will do. But using that power, even for a few seconds, gives me a severe headache. Also,” She turned around and moved her hair away from her neck “would you happen to know anything about this?” On her neck was a strange symbol. It was a darker color than the rest of her skin and looked like two of the same rune on top of each other. Emiko had seen it before, though. It was the same symbol that was engraved in the transparent crystal on her bracelet. 

“I noticed it one time I was tying my hair up after I got my powers. It feels just like a scar or something.” Sachiko explained. Emiko had checked Nikka once she discovered it and saw the same symbol under her fur. Until now it had been an obvious connection between the two; Nikka and the bracelets she made. Then why did Sachiko have it marked on her skin? She also didn’t need to transform in order to use her powers… it was almost like she was a living weapon. Or a magical girl who was trapped in her transform and couldn’t change back. The thought terrified Emiko. 

“Sorry, I’ve never seen it before.” Emiko lied. There was no reason to worry her with all that, there was nothing they could do about it anyway.

“Well, it can’t be helped… Let`s go back to the others.” Sachiko said disappointed and left. The same symbol as Nikka, Nikka calling Daisuke master… could he have something to do with this?


	18. How the end began

Aika sat on the end on Ryuuzaki’s bed; everyone had gathered in his messy room, except for Ryuuzaki himself. He was in the guest room across the corridor checking on Tsubasa who was still unconscious. Aika looked to her right. Yumiko laid on the other end of the bed and scrolled down on her phone. She was facing against the wall and seemed to be lost in whatever was happening on the screen. The air was filled with tension and the room was dead silent. Well, except for Zakura who sat on the ground slurping up the rest of her drink with a straw. Aika didn’t let herself get too bothered by the sound and looked at Emiko. She had taken her rightful throne in Ryuuzaki’s office chair; legs crossed and staring dissatisfied at Yumiko. On the floor beside her sat Reina; Queen Emiko’s loyal servant. At the end of the room Sachiko was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, as she inspected everyone. She didn’t seem fazed by Zakura’s slurping. 

“Are you finished!?” Yumiko looked away from her phone and stared directly at Zakura, who instantly stopped slurping. Yumiko turned back to her phone. A few seconds passed and Zakura continued; this time more quietly. Yumiko slammed her phone on the nightstand and stormed over to Zakura. She violently grabbed the drink out of her hands and tossed it in a trash can nearby. 

“I wasn’t finished with that…” Zakura sounded pretty disappointed. Before Yumiko had the time to respond the door burst open and Ryuuzaki walked in. 

“How is he doing?” Reina eagerly stood up. 

“He is still unconscious, though he seems to be breathing normally. My dad is with him right now and will alert us when… or if he wakes up.” Ryuuzaki explained.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t get him to a hospital? Or at least give him Healing Astra?” Yumiko asked. She seemed to have forgotten about Zakura already. 

“Like I said; we don’t know what will happen once he wakes up. I think it is best for him to stay here until then. Besides; we don’t know if the Healing Astra will work and we only have one.” Ryuuzaki answered. Aika wished she was as concerned about Tsubasa as the rest, but the current event made her thoughts mix up. Daisuke said he didn’t know where the monsters came from; and even though his words didn’t hold much ground, it was more than Kazu had ever told her. What if he knew? What if he hadn’t told her on purpose? The two of them usually avoided the whole “war” subject; the whole topic was too sensitive, it could cause unnecessary fighting and even ruin the relationship. And if that happened Kazu could ruin her life. 

Suddenly everyone stood up and headed towards the door. She didn’t have time to think about her problems anymore, she just had to follow the rest. Ryuuzaki’s father entered the room across from the one they were just in and everyone else followed. Aika looked around; it was quite bigger and much tidier than Ryuuzaki’s. Tsubasa sat in a bed in the corner. He appeared pretty exhausted, but considering his monster-self just got beheaded he seemed fine. Ryuuzaki pushed his way through the rest and ran over to his friend.

“I’m so sorry this happened, Tsubasa, it’s all my fault.” He sat down on the floor by the bed. 

“So, it that our cue to leave you two alone?” Yumiko looked at them.

“No, I owe everyone an apology and an explanation.” Ryuuzaki turned to everybody. “As most of you know; Nikka, a tiny robot, randomly came to me one day. And as you can imagine, it didn’t sit too well with me. It—She wouldn’t stop nagging me about finding five crystals and their owners.” Aika glanced down at her bracelet and the green crystal in the middle. “I tried to get rid of her for a while, but that was when the monsters started to show up and I realized that those things were connected.”

“I remember that, it was shortly after I discovered my powers as a magical girl. When I defeated the first monster to ever show up, a complete stranger ran after me, yelling for me to wait. The stranger turned out to be Ryuuzaki, but back then I panicked, attacked him and ran away.” Emiko added. 

“How could I forget...” Ryuuzaki rubbed his neck as if he still could feel the pain. “While I laid on the ground Nikka caught up to Emiko and stopped her. Shortly after she walked over to me, pointed her staff at me and asked a lot of questions.”

“Hey, anyone would have done the same thing!” Emiko interrupted. 

“After some arguing and a couple of threats we came to a conclusion that neither of us had any idea what was going on and that we had to find four more people with powers like Emiko’s to protect the city.” 

“Buuuuut, we had a lot problems cooperating. We were constantly up each other’s throats and argued about every little thing. I was new to all this back then and he was the only one who I could talk to about it. Because of that I ended up exploding and blaming him for it a lot. It ended up with us getting fed up and I took Nikka and left.” For some reason hearing this made Aika feel a bit better. It didn’t appear that Emiko hated Aika in particular, she was just generally stubborn and explosive. And technically she was right when it came to Aika.

“And I was blaming her a lot for not knowing why all of this was happening. There were even times when I thought she knew more than she was telling me.” A sting of guilt hit Aika. “After she left I was so angry with the world and I had to talk to someone about it; so I went to my good friend Kazuki and told him everything that was going on.” Aika noticed a bit of hurt in Tsubasa’s expression. “He was really supportive and encouraged me to find Emiko again. I’ve never told you this, but giving you a job here and making this your meeting point was all Kazuki’s idea. We decided to search for Emiko together, but since she had Nikka the most likely way to find her was to be close to a monster. Thought our intention was never to let it see us at all; we were just going to wait for Emiko to show up and defeat it.”

“You weren’t scared? Most people, myself included, are terrified of those things.” Tsubasa asked.

“I think I got too confident because I was so sure Emiko would take care of it. But by the time she got there…” Ryuuzaki looked down at the floor. “I got careless and the monster spotted me. It started to chase me, I ran and tried to hide but it was impossible to get away. That was when Kazuki stepped in and tried to get its attention away from me. He threw rocks and screamed at it until it turned to him and grabbed him. He… yelled at me to run. But I couldn’t… I desperately tried to turn its attention back to me, but it didn’t work… it already had Kazuki in its claws and wouldn’t let go… it tightened its grip until…” Ryuuzaki tried to finish the sentence, but the painful memory seemed to get the best of him.

“When I got to the scene I saw that the monster was about to grab Ryuuzaki and I quickly attacked it.” Emiko stepped in; Ryuuzaki clearly wasn’t capable of speaking about it any further. “That grabbed its attention and a few minutes later, I defeated it. Afterwards, I ran up to him and started to yell. I was so mad at him for putting himself in danger.”

“Oh boy, so you didn’t learn your lesson the first time around? ” Yumiko suddenly interfered. 

“Yumiko, I know empathy isn’t your thing but try to be more considerate.” Zakura whispered. No one seemed to care about Yumiko’s question in the first place though. They were all used to her by now. 

“After that incident we teamed up again, I got a job here and started searching for you guys with Nikka.” Emiko finished the story. Aika glanced at Ryuuzaki; he seemed to still have something he wanted to say. She wondered if it would be appropriate to ask him about it.

“There is one more thing you should know.” Ryuuzaki said. “After that I started getting nightmares. Every night I dreamt that I got killed by a monster and the dreams only got more grotesque. I lost a lot of sleep and suddenly everything crashed down on me. I’m not trying to excuse my behavior, but maybe now you can understand why I acted the way I did.”

“I’m sorry, I had no idea what you were going through. But I have to ask you girls; you were normal high schoolers before this, right? What keeps driving you to fight?” Tsubasa had been silent for a long time, but he finally spoke.

“Justice and world peace!” Zakura enthusiastically exclaimed and raised her arms in the air. The room went silent; even Tsubasa didn’t say anything.

“I’d love to agree, but… that’s not the case; it is our fighting instinct. It won’t let us run away from a battle until the overwhelming threat is eliminated.” Aika said and the rest of the magical girls nodded in agreement. 

“Sachiko, do you get that feeling too?” Reina asked. Of course, how come no one had thought about it yet. They didn’t really know what Sachiko was, maybe this could be a clue.

“Hmm… not really. It’s kind of the opposite actually; I feel like I am the big threat and I don’t have an urge to fight something that’s weaker than me; unless someone I care about is in danger. Some of you may have noticed this but… my emotions have changed quite a bit since I got my powers. Fear and shame are completely gone, and love and loyalty are sharpened.” Sachiko explained. Having your emotions change that drastically must be scary. But then again, she technically can’t feel scared… Aika couldn’t wrap her head around it. Whatever Sachiko had become; it was not the same as the rest of them. Aika was happy she was on their side; having her as an enemy terrified her. 

“So basically; the magical girls fight for their own survival while Sachiko fights for other’s survival.” Ryuuzaki crossed his arms and appeared to lose himself in thoughts again. To everyone’s surprise Reina got up and walked over to Tsubasa. 

“Sorry for changing the subject, but I have to ask. Do you remember what happened before you became a monster?” She asked. Tsubasa thought about it for a few seconds.

“I was on my way to the restaurant when all of a sudden I felt like something shot through me. Right after that my pulse drastically went up and I felt an intense pain in my stomach. My body-temperature escalated and my breathing increased. I fell to the ground and the last thing I remember seeing was four people wearing robes standing in the distance. They were staring at me and seemed to try to hide. Next thing I knew I woke up here.” Four people with robes… The Guardians… so they are the ones responsible. Aika looked at the other magical girls for confirmation that they had also realized this. 

“Come on guys let’s leave, Tsubasa needs to rest.” Emiko said and turned to Aika “We also have a class-trip tomorrow we need to prepare for.” 

“Class-trip?” Aika forgot all about The Guardians for a moment.

“Yeah, the one our class has been discussing and planning for the past two months.” Emiko didn’t appear too pleased. With all this happening the past months Aika had totally forgotten that Emiko was their class president; no wonder she took it so seriously.

“Oh, I forgot. We better get ready then.” Everyone except Tsubasa left the room. They all appeared happy and carefree for once. This was the closest they had been to being friends so far, but Aika couldn’t relax. She knew the clock was counting rapidly down to Khaos’ resurrection and that there was nothing they could do to stop it at this point.


	19. Broken trust

Emiko jolted forwards when the bus driver suddenly hit the brakes. The belt dug into her stomach and stopped her from crashing into the seat in front of her. They were late by half an hour already and the driver was rushing to make up for lost time. Ugh, if only she could have transformed and run all the way she would be there by now. Emiko glanced at Aika, who sat a few rows in front of her. She was probably thinking the same thing. 

A few minutes passed and Emiko leaned towards the window and looked outside. Everything appeared so peaceful right now. It was almost as if the entire war was a bad dream she had that night. But unfortunately she knew that wasn’t the case. The restaurant having closed for a few days because of yesterday’s events was proof of that. At least Ryuuzaki and Tsubasa made up; Ryuuzaki even promised to give him the job back once he got better. Sachiko later told everyone the same thing about her powers that Emiko knew, except for the strange scar on her neck. Maybe she didn’t think it was important enough, or maybe… 

“Moriyama Emiko! Quit daydreaming, we have arrived!” The teacher interrupted her thoughts. Oh no, she was the only one who hadn’t gone off the bus. How embarrassing; the whole class had to wait for her. She quickly shook it off and stepped outside at the mountain resort, where Aika caught up to her.

“Hey, you alright? It isn’t like you to… not be perfect.” Aika asked. Emiko sighted. Aika apparently still didn’t like her too much, but at least she cared. And she was the only one here who understood her.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking.” Emiko answered. They had a rough start, but this trip could be an opportunity to mend some of the damage done. Everyone deserved a second chance; even Aika. Besides, if she really wanted to betray them, she would have a long time ago. A low growling sound came from Aika’s stomach. She immediately held her tummy and her cheeks turned red.

“You forgot to eat breakfast again, didn’t you?” Emiko looked concerned at her. As class president she paid attention to everyone’s well-being, and Aika was no exception. Emiko reached for her bag and fumbled around in it.

“No, wait.” Aika slightly panicked. “I have lunch, don’t worry about me.” Despite Aika’s pleading Emiko pulled out a lunch box and handed it to her.

“Just take it, I made too much anyway. I don’t know if you’ll like it, but everything is better than that dry, crusty sandwich you always bring.” As soon as Emiko finished her sentence, the teacher rushed everyone to follow him inside a building. The students were then divided into four groups and Aika and Emiko ended up in different ones. They probably wouldn’t see each other again until lunch break.

***

“Look at that, you guys. Koizumi actually brought some real food this time.” A girl on Emiko’s table snorted. The other girls at the table agreed.

“Give her a break, not everyone can afford fancy lunch every day.” Emiko said slightly drained.

“Why are you always defending her? She doesn’t even like you!” Another girl blurted out. Emiko stood up and slammed her hands on the table. Everyone stared wide-eyed at her.

“I, as class president, refuse to socialize with such snobs. Now if you would excuse me.” She grabbed her bag and left in the direction she had seen Aika earlier. But the table she sat at was now empty. Where could she have gone? Emiko looked around and spotted someone who looked like Aika by the fence, gazing downwards. Emiko ran towards the person who turned out to really be Aika. What was she looking at? Emiko patted her on the shoulder and she turned around. 

“Oh, Emiko. I was just about to go find you.” Aika said and walked away from the fence.

“I’m sorry if you heard what those girls said. Just ignore them.” 

“I wish someone trash-talking my sandwich was my biggest problem. In case you forgot, there is a war going on. And speaking of the war-” Aika pointed down by the fence where she was looking just seconds ago. Emiko leaned over; what could be so important? And then she spotted it. There, in the middle of the woods below them and not too far from the small waterfall, Kazu and Taiki wandered around. Emiko immediately stepped away. 

“What, how did they find us!?” She frantically whispered. Her heart started beating faster; her class and a lot of tourists were in danger.

“Calm down, I don’t think they’re here for us. If they were, wouldn’t they look in a more crowded area? To me it seems like they are looking for something, not someone.” Aika explained calmly. Emiko thought about it; what else could they possibly be looking for? Then it hit her.

“Healing Astra.” She whispered, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Aika confirmed with a nod. Of course; each Healing Astra they get their hands on is one Healing Astra closer to Khaos’ resurrection. And they couldn’t let that happen no matter what.

***

Kazu cut down a branch in his way. Taiki walked behind him with a Healing Astra that they used to track the last one. They always needed an extra to help find the rest as they were pretty well hidden. A distant sound caught his attention. It sounded like a baby crying, but a few seconds later it faded out. 

“Taiki. Do you ever think about how your parents are doing back home?” Kazu asked, suddenly a little sad. He cut down another branch and saw the waterfall further away. They had been looking for a while now, the Healing Astra must be near.

“What’s with the sudden interest?” Taiki asked and Kazu shrugged as a response. “I do. My dad is a pretty strong Earth-user so he is probably fine. My mom died when I was four years old.” Taiki stopped in his tracks and looked down at the Healing Astra. It glowed intensely and Taiki pointed at a spot in the ground.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up any painful memories.” Kazu said as he went over to the spot and kneeled. There was a tiny bump in the earth and he brushed away some at the top. The glow from a Healing Astra started to shine through. 

“Don’t worry; I was so young I technically never knew her anyway.” Taiki answered as Kazu dug up the Healing Astra. He stood up and they turned to their way back. “But don’t mention it to Takeshi, it is a very sore subject to him. Apparently they were out somewhere when an earthquake struck and she died defending him.” 

Before Kazu managed to answer him, something suddenly hit him in the back. An electric shock ran through his body and he fell forwards. The Healing Astra flew out of his hands and rolled away from him; landing perfectly in Emiko’s hands. 

“Son of a-, give that back!” Kazu shouted; he couldn’t get back up yet. “Taiki, do something!” He shouted again and turned around. Taiki laid on the ground the same way as Kazu and Aika stood behind him with a nervous smile. There was nothing he could do but lay there and watch Emiko run away with their last Healing Astra; Aika right behind her. 

A few seconds passed and he started to lose sight of them. He had to get up; his honor depended on it. He was finally able to force himself up. After limping a few steps he pulled himself together and ran after them as fast as he could. He closed in on Emiko, but she noticed him and tossed the Healing Astra to Aika. Kazu sent Emiko a furious glare and turned his attention to Aika, who ran in the opposite direction. Kazu and Emiko set off after her. 

Emiko shot after Kazu multiple times, but he dodged every attack. He could technically take her out easily, but he was concerned about Aika; she would most likely run into Taiki any second. Just then an arrow passed right in front of him. A few inches closer and it would have pierced his head. Kazu stopped and turned to where the arrow came from. Taiki stood with his bow aimed at Aika; who still held the Healing Astra. He nodded to Kazu, signaling him to help.

“The next one will pass right through you if you don’t hand that over.” Taiki threatened. Aika turned around and looked at Kazu; her expression asking for help. He tried to communicate to her to just give it to Taiki. This was the only wat to help her without betraying his team. She did as he told her and gave Taiki the Healing Astra. 

All of a sudden, five pink orbs shot all around them, exploded and covered everything in smoke. The smoke forced him to cough a few times. He should have finished Emiko when he had the chance. 

“KAZU!” A familiar voice yelled. Aika jumped on him and pushed him away. Both of them fell and rolled away from a tree that plunged down right where he stood a second ago. The fog slowly lifted and he could see more each second. Emiko and Taiki were arguing back and forth. But where did the Healing Astra go? He looked up in the air and saw it spinning above them.

“CAREFUL, IT’S GOING TO-” Kazu was interrupted by the Healing Astra hitting the ground and shattering into a million pieces; its glow dying out. “-break.” Everyone went silent. For what felt like an eternity no one said a word. 

***

Emiko was speechless. The fog had lifted and even though she could see clearer than normal people because of her sharpened senses, it was still difficult to see in all the smoke. She and Taiki had lost the Healing Astra in the fighting and now it was destroyed. Though that part could be considered a victory for them, the bigger issue now was Aika. She had just saved their enemy. She didn’t want to believe it, but couldn’t deny it as it happened right in front of her. Kazu and Aika got up from the ground and Kazu shamefully walked over to Taiki.

“Takeshi’s not gonna be happy about this…” Taiki muttered and shattered a tiny orb that made them disappear in thin air. 

“How could you, I trusted you and you betrayed us again!” Emiko was so confused and let down she didn’t know what to do. 

“I couldn’t let that tree crush him!” Aika said desperately. 

“He is here to destroy our entire human race!” Emiko argued. Did Aika really not care? 

“But we’re all the same people, they don’t really want-”

“You know, what? Forget it. You don’t deserve my trust nor that bracelet.” Emiko said disappointed. She pressed the crystal on her chest, turned back to normal and started walking back to the class.


	20. A bloody storm

Aika sat by her desk in her room, head buried in homework, and stared at the calendar that hung on the wall in front of her. There was a red circle around March 6th titled “deadline” in bold letters. She had gotten this assignment delayed three times already; she had barely managed to convince the teacher to delay it one last time. And that was tomorrow. And still she sat there; staring at the paper, without being able to write anything on it. She had thought about asking Emiko for help, but that was out of the question now. They hadn’t spoken since the class trip a few days ago. Aika glanced over at her digital clock; her shift at the restaurant would start any minute. This was the first day the restaurant was opened again after Tsubasa got turned into a monster. There had only been one other monster attack since that, but Aika hadn’t fought it. In a way she had only made it worse for herself, since she now didn’t dare face the other magical girls. Emiko had probably told them everything and they all probably hated her even more now. Maybe she should just call in sick? Was she even welcome at the restaurant still? What if she showed up only to get fired? She buried her head in the papers again.

***

The front door downstairs slammed shut and her mother shouted her name. Aika jolted up from her desk and looked at the clock. Two hours had passed; she must have fallen asleep. Her mother yelled again. Aika was usually at work when her mother came home, but she must have seen that Aika’s shoes were in the hallway. Though her mom was the last person she wanted to see right now, she opened her bedroom door and answered. 

“Come down!” Her mother yelled back. Aika had no choice; she went downstairs.

“Shouldn’t you be at “King and Queen” now?” 

“It’s closed today.” Aika answered briefly. 

“Don’t lie to me, Aika. I drove past there on my way home and it was open.” Her mom put down her purse and looked into Aika’s eyes. She just shifted her gaze. “What is happening to you lately? I talked with your teacher; he said your grades are dropping, you’re always late, don’t pay attention in class and don’t socialize with the others. Do you want to talk about it?” She asked in that caring voice. Aika couldn’t believe that stupid teacher snitched on her; she did not need this right now. Her mom sighted heavily.

“Listen here, young lady, this is serious. You can’t keep doing this. The school is bad enough on its own, but you’re lying to me and now you’re skipping out on work too?” Her mom went on and on, but Aika didn’t listen anymore. Compared to her other problems this was just a minor inconvenience. Her mother’s rambling started to become too much; all she wanted to was to get out of there. Aika started to walk towards the front door. Her mom followed her, demanding her to come back, but Aika paid her no attention and ran outside. She quickly ran behind the house, transformed and jumped up on the roof before her mother could catch up. Aika watched her mom run back and forth, trying to find her. A few minutes later she gave up and went back inside. Aika sank down, leaning on the chimney in relief. She looked up at the night sky, but there were no stars tonight; only dark clouds. Aika felt a cold rain drop hit her cheek. Only a few seconds later it started pouring and she head a thunderclap in the distance. Great, she couldn’t just sit here all night, she had to find cover. But where could she go? Right now she needed Kazu more than ever, but he already had hell to pay because of her. She had no-where left; she was all on her own. 

“Snap out of it, Aika.” She whispered to herself and slightly patted herself on the cheek. It wasn’t like not to find a solution. First things first; she needed more Healing Astra. Who knew when she would run into a monster or the cronians next time? There was only one place she knew there was a Healing Astra; the restaurant. 

The wind blew in Aika’s face as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. The rain splashed against her and the thunder threatened to strike her down. Right now she really sympathized with Kazu’s fear for thunderstorms. Suddenly her foot slipped on the wet ceramic and she plummeted downwards. Reflexively she grabbed her staff and used it to latch on to the edge of the roof. She overcame the urge to look down and climbed back up and continued running.

Finally she arrived outside the restaurant. Lightning struck nearby, lightning up the restaurant’s name in an eerie manner. It was almost like nature tried to warn her not to go through with this. But she had no other choice. There must be an opened window somewhere. Aika walked around the restaurant, using the light from her staff as a flashlight. Surely enough, she spotted an open window at the second floor. She took the Healing Astra Kazu gave her out of her shoe; it was the closest thing she could use as a pocket in her transform. It glowed brightly right outside the window. Good thing she found out how to track Healing Astra; Kazu and Taiki had given away the secret without realizing it. 

Aika found herself right by the window and used her staff to open it enough for her to get in. She jumped in, and brought with her a puddle of water. She removed her transform and was now wearing her normal, dry clothes. But her hair was still wet. She thought about it for a second then put her hoodie over it. The Healing Astra glowed more intensely with each step and she put it away in her pocket. She looked around; it had to be close. That was when she noticed a tiny black box on the drawer. She picked it up and opened it. Inside laid the Healing Astra she had been looking for. Finally. It was all hers; and she deserved it more than anyone. She took it out of the box and admired its beauty; the glow was mesmerizing in the dark. It was almost as if Astra herself was watching over her. 

Suddenly another thunderclap struck and lit up the room. In that moment Aika saw the shadow of a long, thin object with a blade on the top right above her head. The room turned back into darkness, Aika quickly turned around to meet two red-glowing eyes. She let out a blood-curdling scream and dropped the box along with the Healing Astra. It hit the floor and shattered.

“Oh, Aika. Sorry, I thought you were an intruder.” Sachiko said surprised and lowered her scythe. She looked at the open window and the puddle of water below it, but her expression didn’t change. “Why are you here at this hour?” Aika was still too shocked to answer; the only thing she did was to take off her hood. Sachiko shifted her gaze at the shattered Healing Astra on the floor. “You should clean that up before Ryuuzaki finds out. He will tell the others and you will find yourself in a world of trouble.”

“I already am.” Aika kneeled and brushed the shattered pieces together. 

“What do you mean?” Sachiko kneeled down beside her. “What’s bothering you?” Aika wondered whether she should trust her or not. She was technically not involved with the war, but knew enough to understand. 

“Why do you want to help me? I’ve been nothing but trouble.”

“Not to me. I know what it’s like not having anyone who understands you. I’m just here because of Ryuu, the problems between the rest don’t concern me.” Sachiko explained. Aika thought about it for a few seconds and decided to trust her. She told her everything from her first encounter with Kazu, how Daisuke saved her and how he had lied to everyone. She also explained everything about Khaos, The Guardians and Astra. 

“You should talk to him. That Kazu guy.” Sachiko said. Of course she had to, but- “Right now.”

“Right now?! But its late and I-” Sachiko didn’t listen to her. She picked Aika up and went to the window. Aika panicked and tried to get away, but Sachiko was too fast. She jumped out the window and Aika screamed. They were surely going to die, or at least get severely injured. Sachiko lifted her scythe again and let the end sink into the ground to ease their landing. Impressive, looks like there was more to Sachiko than Aika had suspected at first. 

The two had walked for a while, but Sachiko suddenly came to a halt. She stretched her arm in front of Aika to stop her as well.

“Aika, stop.” Sachiko said seriously. Her tone of voice scared Aika; she had never heard her speak that way before. It was like she was another person… or on really high alert. “Someone has been following us for a while.” Before Aika say something she heard a familiar voice behind them.

“And just where do you think you two are going?” Aika couldn’t figure out who the voice belonged to. She and Sachiko turned around and came face-to-face with Daisuke; who didn’t look too pleased to see them. This couldn’t be happening right now… “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to, Aika. You’re a traitor and a liar, and you’re finally alone.” Sachiko instantly reacted by readying her weapon, and Daisuke responded by readying his own.

“I’m the liar? What about your story of Astra’s origin? I know you lied to us, she was actually human! We are the same people and you pin us against each other!” Aika yelled in anger.

“We are already at war!” Daisuke lost his composure. “Besides; we are two different people who were never meant to meet. Astra separated us for a reason! THIS IS HER WILL!” He yelled at the top of his lungs as another thunderclap struck. Aika was taken aback. This guy sounded like a madman; she would never have though that his motive for helping them was so sinister. 

“Her will, do you hear what you’re saying? The people like you are the ones who trash her name!” Aika yelled back and instantly regretted it when she saw expression darken. He took a few steps towards her and she took a few back. 

“You don’t know anything about Astra, you parasite!” Daisuke screamed. Aika reflexively reached for her bracelet. But before she could press the button to transform, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She stared right into his eyes; searching for sympathy. But they only radiated anger and bloodlust. She couldn’t believe this was the same Daisuke that saved her back then. He lifted his sword and swung at Aika. She instinctively shut her eyes. 

Suddenly she fell to the ground; slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was still in one piece. She looked up and saw Sachiko and Daisuke in the most extreme fight she had ever witnessed. 

“Sachiko, be careful! He is dangerous!” Aika yelled. 

“So am I!” Sachiko yelled back. Upon further inspection she noticed that Daisuke was actually the one on the defensive. Aika was in complete awe; in a matter of seconds Sachiko had cornered the guy who almost killed both Kazu and Takeshi with ease. Who would have thought she was so powerful? Aika didn’t dare interfere, there was no way she stood a chance. The sight that followed shook Aika to the core. Daisuke collapsed down in agony as he let out a pained scream. He dropped his sword and held his left eye. Blood seeped through his fingers and ran down his arm. Sachiko stood over him, his blood on her weapon, ready to end his life. 

“Stop, don’t do it!” Aika desperately screamed and hastily got up. She didn’t know if Sachiko would listen at this point, but to her surprise she lowered her scythe. 

“Why? He tried to kill you.” Sachiko said in her normal tone, looking confused. Aika didn’t sense any bloodthirst from her. 

“I know, but… he saved my life once. He is not actually a terrible guy.” Sachiko shrugged and walked away from him. Aika ran towards him, but before she could catch up he shattered an orb and disappeared. 

Aika fell on her knees, staring at the bloody grass where Daisuke had just laid. She slowly turned around and glanced over at Sachiko, who patiently waited for her; eyes glowing in the dark.

“So you don’t want to go to Kazu after all?” Aika shook her head in response and looked up at the sky.


End file.
